TED Talks

Urban architecture inspired by mountains, clouds and volcanoes | Ma Yansong

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized Talk recommendations and more. Taking inspiration from nature, architect Ma Yansong designs breathtaking buildings that break free from the boxy symmetry of so many modern cities. His exuberant and graceful work — from a pair of curvy skyscrapers that “dance” with each other…

Published

7 years ago

November 29, 2019

CYBER TECH TV

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized Talk recommendations and more.

Taking inspiration from nature, architect Ma Yansong designs breathtaking buildings that break free from the boxy symmetry of so many modern cities. His exuberant and graceful work — from a pair of curvy skyscrapers that “dance” with each other to an opera house that looks like a snow-capped mountain — shows us the beauty of architecture that defies norms.

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25 Comments

pastor Larry

December 1, 2019 at 4:32 pm

Again Man getting inspiration from what God has created.

Reply
MrDQMYNATOR

December 1, 2019 at 4:57 pm

Sorry but the brown/black “mountain” looks like crap – especially placed next to boxy buildings! – worst possible placement ! – he should have build somewhere else maybe but this is just ridiculous.

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MrDQMYNATOR

December 1, 2019 at 5:03 pm

Here we have my old dilemma: Do i downvote because i disagree with the speech or dislike the design? – or upvote to thank the uploader for maikng it publicly available? clearly TED did nothing wong…

Reply
Sakurajima Mai

December 1, 2019 at 5:13 pm

The guy can literally start a new renaissance

Reply
Eva Eder Nzewi

December 1, 2019 at 5:19 pm

gut gut gut !!!

Reply
Yve Zhao

December 1, 2019 at 7:33 pm

Amazing good work!

Reply
Michael Hartman

December 1, 2019 at 8:35 pm

Nice sculptures, but unless it is able to create greater profit, it will not be mainstream. It takes money to make buildings, and those with money want their money back.

Reply
Shanti Jain

December 1, 2019 at 8:57 pm

????????????????????✨????????????

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Andréa

December 1, 2019 at 10:26 pm

wow this is so amazing

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해리

December 1, 2019 at 10:35 pm

Impressive…tnx for deep inspire

Reply
Twosixxmusic

December 1, 2019 at 11:11 pm

Music channel subscribe & check it iut

Reply
Panya Rerksakunchai

December 2, 2019 at 12:46 am

Bad sing primary ip,my gateway mobile me need

Reply
Edmond Kong

December 2, 2019 at 1:06 am

赞一个

Reply
Ideoform Sun

December 2, 2019 at 1:07 am

I love his designs. Very beautiful and inspiring.

Reply
leson zhang

December 2, 2019 at 2:18 am

哥哥牛逼！！
awesome！dude！
make call for you！

Reply
Ian Fyffe

December 2, 2019 at 3:58 am

I think the way to test if the fish like the tank would be to connect the custom tank to the standard square one and see which tank they spend more time in.

Reply
Yunan Jiang

December 2, 2019 at 4:11 am

Being someone who was born and raised in China, I am very proud of this “back to the nature” concept, which China has abandoned for 70 years! What concern me is the reality, like the severe pollution, the real estate bubbles, and most of all, the currant political situation. Remember the “tofu-dreg project” led 6898 school buildings collapsed in 2008 during the earthquake, left over 5K school children dead? I admire the design, but my question is the quality of these new construction…

Reply
Samuel Christian

December 2, 2019 at 4:45 am

Box and rectangular-shaped buildings are commonly used n architecture because they are standard designs but it’s also a visual representation of man’s attempt to create order and control in nature, which is chaotic and random, so a more nature-inspired building does create a better sense of unity with nature

Reply
M J

December 2, 2019 at 6:20 am

He reminds me so much of Howard Roark from the book ‘The Fountainhead’. More power to such visionaries!

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ZzZ888

December 2, 2019 at 9:55 am

The fishes in the second tank would be like, “where the heck are we? I can’t find my way.”

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bình bùi

December 2, 2019 at 10:21 am

He changed my mind :))

Reply
Warlord _AJ

December 2, 2019 at 10:47 am

I wish this mindset existed 20 years ago when I was deciding my career. I wanted to do architecture, but was struggling with inspiration. What a great talk.

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Liam McAllan

December 2, 2019 at 10:50 am

I love the aesthetics and function designed to complement nature, but I especially love the literal incorporation of nature- habitats in a human habitat. Its best to not build in the first place but building is obviously needed and this ethos is a far better alternative to the status quo

Reply
Su Nyein Nwe

December 2, 2019 at 11:31 am

Thank you for your initiative.
One day we can combine ourself with the nature again.

Reply
Tom Kot

December 2, 2019 at 2:28 pm

One day in the future we will look back on “modern architecture” (soulless boxes) as a mistake

Reply

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The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

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