MAD Rhapsody

Conceived and designed by architect Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architects, Rhapsody documents the buildings of this avant-garde architecture firm and traces the development of their ideas through associated practice including art, research, and exhibition projects. With photographs, drawings, and models, the book highlights twenty of their most celebrated projects from the past six years, both built and in process. Known for their organic and dreamlike architecture that creates a dialogue with nature, earth, and sky, MAD projects reach all over the globe. At age 45, Ma Yansong is one of China's best-known architects. His curvilinear, free-form, and futuristic designs are often compared to those of his mentor, Zaha Hadid. Ma's greatest inspiration is nature; his opera house in the northern Chinese city of Harbin resembles a snow-capped mountain, while his master plan for the city of Nanjing calls for sloping buildings covered with vertical louvers that resemble waterfalls. Other projects include the Ordos Museum in the wilderness of Inner Mongolia, the Absolute Towers in Canada, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.