The New York Times Beijing Design Forum 2012 was held on September 29th at the Park Hyatt Beijing Hotel. Ma Yansong was invited to present a lecture named Preserving The Future as one of 8 guest speakers, as well as participate in a short dialogue with Hsieh Ying – chun, an architect from Taiwan.

Presentation Title: Preserving the future

Abstract: The unprecedented urban expansion in contemporary China came about with a neglect for nature, history and human heritage, which in turn created the misunderstanding that modernization inherently contradicts with the natural environment we live in and the historical heritage left by our ancestors. The impossibility to satisfy both has left us with two solutions: blame the former or destroy the latter. In an attempt to envision a future where imagination co-exists with history, Ma Yansong has prepared stories behind three of MAD's urban projects.

Located in Beijing, Rome and Guiyang, the projects focused on research and regeneration of old city districts. Buildings added to the area inherited the historical and geographical contexts of each location. From dialogues with the past, these projects are expected to become the junction between the past and future.

For full information please see here: http://beijingdesignweek.org/cn/design/
video link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDcwMDk3MTAw.html
                    http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDcwMDk2NDUy.html