Nestled on the banks of a lake in the UNESCO world heritage site of Huangshan in China’s Anhui Province, MAD Architects’ ten-building residential project mimics the surrounding mountains.
December 1st, 2017
Beijing-based MAD Architects recently completed Huangshan Mountain Village, a series of residential buildings that mimic the undulating hills of China’s famous UNESCO world heritage site. MAD Architect’s Ma Yanson wanted to create a ‘shanshui city’ – shanshui means mountain and water in Chinese – on the south bank of Taiping Lake in China’s Anhui Province.
“The impression we have of Taiping Lake in Huangshan is vague: each visit to this place yields different views, different impressions. It is a bit mysterious, like ancient Shanshui landscape paintings that are never based on realism, but rather, the imagination. This inexplicable feeling is always poetic; it is obscure and indistinct,” says Ma.
MAD Architects designed 859 units in ten separate buildings with heights ranging from five to 21 stories, strung along a lakeside hilltop. Ma Yansong wanted to create housing where “architecture becomes nature, and nature dissolves into architecture.” To make the concrete and glass buildings look as natural as possible, each building has a different shape inspired by the geometry of the nearby mountains.
The lower levels occupy the most space, with subsequent stories getting smaller and smaller toward the tops of the buildings. The organic lines make the buildings look as if they have been sculpted by wind and water, with no two the same. To build the structure, Ma found an engineer from Shenzhen province, where buildings often sit on irregularly shaped hillsides.
Huangshan’s famous verdant scenery and iconic granite peaks have long inspired artists, writers and other creatives. Ma wanted to continue this tradition and create retreat-like spaces for contemplation and reflection. “We hope that residents will not just look at the scenery, but see themselves in relation to this environment, attention that is brought inward. In observing oneself, one perhaps begins to notice a different self than the one present in the city,” he says.
Each unit boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive balconies – their shape informed by nearby tea terraces – overlooking the surrounding lake and mountains. The positions of the buildings themselves were determined by the landscape, with some sitting proud on the peak of the hills and other nestled lower down. Pathways leading to and between the residences meander organically between the trees and the architecture, giving natural access to the buildings.
MAD Architects worked on the project with executive architect HSarchitects, interior designer Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration, landscape designer Broadacre Source Landscape, curtain wall designer Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd, and lighting designer Shanghai Mofo Lighting.
Photos by Fernando Guerra unless otherwise stated.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
DKO’s Interior Design Director on how to create community and specificity in interior design, and how apartment living is being reconceptualised.
We spoke to Plus Architecture’s Chrisney Formosa about a string of recent Brisbane projects and what they might tell us about the city’s design evolution.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Welcome to the year of the Design Effect. This year’s theme aims to showcase the profound ripple effects that exceptional design can have on people, place and planet. Join in shaping this narrative by contributing your perspective before May 3, 2024, and become a part of the Design Effect movement.
Found within the verdant landscape of Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Sona Reddy’s design for this authentic Andhra restaurant adeptly fuses textural rhythms with traditional materials.