Ma Yansong

“The way we do our architecture is to show that we can come up with our own solutions. We don't just take orders.”

“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.”

“I think architecture should be a stage, not something too material - more of an environment, not a product.”

“Chaoyang Park Plaza is about how to carry the traditional culture into a new format in modern architecture. Instead of building a boundary between the city and the park, I tried to design this building to emerge from the natural landscape.”

“A shan-shui city is a modern city, a high-density urban situation, but we pay more attention to the environment. We bring waterfalls; we bring in a lot of trees and gardens. We treat architecture as a landscape.”

“Early in my career, I tried to bring an artistic feeling to architecture. That's really the intent and impression of what I think about: context, space, shapes, and landscape.”

“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?”

“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.”

“In China, it's very easy to make architecture special because anything you design will look different, as most parts of the city are very similar. They make so many massive residential buildings.”

“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.”

“What if we treat the high-rise like a mountain, or we have gardens in the sky, or waterfalls? I think that's the most challenging thing I want to try in my architecture.”

“Ultimately, the artistic part of architecture has always interested me.”

“Although we're architects, we believe we do culture; architecture is culture, and the topics we tackle will always arise a broader debate.”

“Architecture is a special kind of career that showcases the accumulations of culture, time, and history.”

“Oscar Niemeyer really inspired me. He's from South America, where nature has meaning. And his architecture was not expensive or high tech but artistic and spiritual. I like that.”

“When I was young and used to look at Chinese architecture, there was no clear definition between what was landscaping and what was architecture.”

“The shan-shui city idea is trying to bring traditional values and ways of living to modern high-rise architecture.”

“The architecture scene in China is the most open and free climate compared to many other places. You can find many opportunities.”

“I'm trying to create architecture as landscape. But I'm not copying nature.”

“In the past, young, talented architects worked together to form a strong social agenda and communicate with a larger audience. That's what today's architecture community should be.”

“When I started university, I didn't know much about architecture, so I flipped through a lot of magazines, looking at different and exciting images from all over the world. I thought that architecture could be interesting.”