To celebrate the launch of our first book, MAD Dinner, we embarked on a world-wide dinner tour: inviting architects and  non-architects, critics and designers to dinner in cities around the globe.

The first dinner took place in New York on Friday 26th September 2008. The dinner included such guests as Barry Bergdoll (chief architecture curator at MOMA), Joseph Grima (director of Storefront for Art and Architecture) and Clifford Pearson (Chinese editor of Architectural Review).

Hosted by Brendan McGetrick, the editor of MAD Dinner, the conversation touched on such issues as the spectacle of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, and the problems of building super-Modern architecture with a predominantly rural workforce. The debate also raised some challenging questions: is recession good for architecture? Will anyone remember who built the Birds Nest in five years time? How come New York can’t build note-worthy buildings anymore?

We plan to continue this conversation in cities around the world, documenting each discussion for publication at a later date. We hope that these dinners will add a regional flavor to an increasingly global discussion, based around what it means to be an architect working inside the fastest urbanization in world history.

MAD's reputation as "China's Hungriest Architect" will be assured.