Ordos Museum is announced to be the winner of the “2014 WAN Metal in Architecture Award”. In the award release statement, the WAN AWARDS judges state: “We were suitably impressed with how the architects had laced both structures together to achieve the perfect structural balance and an unusual shape.” The judges were also impressed with the cladding work, saying “This is a very successful, dynamic usage of metal cladding on a sculptural built form. The technique to clad something like this is very neatly solved. Very talented.”

Influenced by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, MAD envisioned the museum to be a mysterious abstract form capable of fostering an alternate, timeless development of Chinese tradition and future. Whilst the surface of this shape functions as a metal container critical to protect the interior from the harsh winters and frequent sand storms of the region, metaphorically this external layer operates as a shield protecting the precious culture and history of the city from the unknown growth of the city. For the exterior structure, MAD applied solid concrete wall and aluminum plates to resist the severe weather in Ordos. The sandhill-like plaza outside of the museum has become a popular public space for citizens. Ordos Museum was completed in 2011 and has been in service since.