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" I'm trying to express nature in big cities. "
Ma Yansong
Big Cities
Big
Express
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" Sometimes I sketch and then scan my sketch directly to make the curves more freehand. I don't want to make perfect industrial curves. "
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" If you look at ancient Chinese paintings, you see mountains, but they are not real mountains; it is something the artists imagined. "
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" In traditional cities like Beijing, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, nature was a very important part of urban planning - not only as a landscape but a part of daily life. "
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" I grew up in the old neighborhood of Beijing where you had a courtyard and trees. Actually, the whole of Beijing was a garden - the Forbidden City - and the lakes and gardens in the city center were all artificial. "
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" When I graduated from high school, I thought I wanted to make science fiction movies, so I applied to film school, but I couldn't get in. A professor told me I should try architecture instead. "
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" Since the Beijing Olympics in 2008, our office has been discussing how we can make architecture more human and at one with nature. We need to ask ourselves, what legacy do we want to leave behind on humankind's urban culture? "
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" Instead of making grand structures and beautiful buildings, we should focus on the environment and the urban space and how you encourage people to live. "
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" I don't like to talk about sustainability, because sometimes I see green buildings that don't appear any different from those in the past. "
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" When we talk about a city, we need to talk about what the future is. Whats the ideal scenario in the future? "
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" The beauty of architecture is it involves work that stretches over a very long time but often starts in one instant, with just one emotion, a kind of instinctual response. "
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" When I was young and used to look at Chinese architecture, there was no clear definition between what was landscaping and what was architecture. "
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" In China, we had some buildings that looked like the White House or wine bottles. All they seemed to represent was bad taste. "
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" The city of the future development will be shifted from the pursuit of material civilisation to the pursuit of nature. This is what happens after human beings experience industrial civilisation at the expense of the natural environment. "
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" Chinese people need to be aware of their present and ask, 'What's our culture? What can we bring to the world?' I don't think there's anything wrong with that. "
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" I think architects have a major role in being responsible for illustrating what the future could be. Because of the very strong political and commercial climate, many architects are trying very hard to solve everyday issues, to respond to the authorities. "
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" Historically, sci-fi movies have played an important role in inspiring young people. "
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" The world itself is already a great textbook. "
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" We proposed Tiananmen Square - this very empty political square in the city centre - should turn green. Maybe in the future, this space could become a very human and open urban space. And if that happens, I think that all the cities around China will follow to change. "
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" I think architecture should be a stage, not something too material - more of an environment, not a product. "
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" A pool at the edge of the ocean is the simplest geometry, yet you feel connected to the sea. In a forest with the mountains in the background, you also feel the connection to nature, yet it's a very complex geometry. I think architecture is about controlling these feelings. "
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" I don't use tools to create things, but I use them to realize things. "
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" I think, in our modern cities, there are a lot of boxes; there are a lot of straight lines. They often deal with efficiency, the function, the structure. "
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" Tiananmen Square is a sensitive topic because many things happened there. The idea of turning the plaza into a forest makes many people feel uncomfortable. "
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" I actually feel like a very traditional architect. "
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