Quotes from Ma Yansong

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.

I would say that many architects are very logical. They start their process from analysis and from rational processes to try and find the 'right' answer, like solving a mathematic equation.

We try to turn buildings into landscapes - defying the idea of modernism which sees nature and buildings as two distinct elements.

Modern buildings have become memorials to power and capital. More and more, they're isolated from people.

A lot of ancient poetry sees in nature a reflection of human emotions, and in a post-industrialized era, once people have become more aware of the necessity of a more harmonious relation between man and nature, we need to build cities which can connect with human spiritual needs instead of being merely functional.

The way a human can coexist with nature has to be at the spiritual level.

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.

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

We need to enter a new era to make nature and humans more emotionally connected in modern cities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If we're talking about the urban landscape as an advanced, forward-thinking art form, there must be some intellectual thinking involved.

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?

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.

When you look at classical structures, they're often linked to literature, music, or a poem. They were constructed by master builders, which means it's not something standard that you can copy.

I actually feel like a very traditional architect.

Architects think that beauty is a crime.

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

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

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.

We need architects to be visionaries.