2022 Migratory Bird Sand City | Ma Yansong: Imagine an Alien City

“Material is time-sensitive, and only the spirit is eternal. Many buildings may be built, and everyone regrets it. Even if they don’t want it and regret it, it is still there. But some things disappear, we But still feeling it and being inspired.”

—— Ma Yansong

Migratory Bird Sand City is an imaginary city. Existed like a mirage for only 300 hours. From there, brave waiters pass and perch, taking a whole new story to their next destination. Its existence may only be a moment, short-lived, too late to decay, and too late to forget. It came to an abrupt end, when everything was still hysterically beautiful, and stomped upwards.

The 2022 Waiting Sand City was designed by architect Yan Yansong, and every waiter completed the shaping of it together. At this moment, no one knows what it looks like, because it will change and grow continuously for the next 300 hours, so that every ridge and detail represents a precious imagination. We expect that Shacheng will not only serve as a habitat for waiting artists to live together and create for 300 hours, but also a dream city that carries every waiting artist’s vision for life and a better future.

On June 3, 2022, we met Ma Yansong at MAD Architects in Beijing. Ask him to talk about how he views this dream city as the first migratory bird this year, as well as the migratory bird 300222.

Q1 What do you think of the Migratory Bird 300 project?

Ma Yansong: I especially like it because it is full of possibilities. Last year was unfulfilled, and I felt that it could continue to happen again. At that time, I expressed that if I do it again, I still want to participate, so this time I came as the designer who planned the city. Looking forward to this year’s 300 migratory birds.

Q2 Is the final presentation of Migratory Bird 300 last year different from what you expected?

Ma Yansong: I think it is the place where life and drama are most closely integrated in the entire festival. Other performances are in the theater, but at Migratory Birds 300, everyone is like in the theater. The atmosphere created is a surreal feeling.

It is by the sea, like a new city made of sand, which was created for this event and disappears after the end. It feels different from the various cities and environments we usually experience.

In the middle of the night, Shacheng is particularly lively. Over time, people in the city reacted differently. There are performances, there are artists interacting with other people, some people eat and some people drink, like a spiritual city. All the things in the spiritual world that you imagined seem to be possible here, everyone is an active participant, you are no longer just like an audience, you can participate at any time.

As this year’s designer, I’m curious how this space will inspire people to get involved.

Q3 What are you looking for in Migratory Bird 300 in 2022?

Ma Yansong: I can’t judge what will happen, but I will see it when the time comes. The more things I can’t imagine happen, the more interesting it may be.

This city is like a piece of earth art, but the scale of this art is very large, and everyone can live, work, and play in it. Anything is possible, and everything is possible. I am usually an architectural designer and believe that the environment can influence the way people behave and think. And this place, innately has a unique location: the seaside, the beach, the sky, it is separated from all the familiar and labelled things in modern civilization. It has a feeling that, although we made it, it may not be at all. As if it does not correspond linearly to history, it could have been there at any time. This sense of dislocation may also be an escape for all those who have left real life and experienced a short time here, and an opportunity to go from here to another time and space.

Our behavior in the city, and what is functional and realistic in the city, sometimes compresses spiritual and inner space. In the city, what are the things that make you imagine your relationship with the world, your relationship with yourself? Such opportunities are especially rare, and theatre and art spaces give the opportunity to think about that.

Can Shacheng do it? If it does, everyone will have his own exit. There are more than 300 migratory birds and 300 artists, plus many participants. On this scale, if everyone’s free soul is awakened, it should be an energetic thing.

Q4 Migratory Birds 300 will be redefined by 300 artists in 2022, how do you see its changes?

Ma Yansong: I’m looking forward to it. In fact, the city is like this. It’s a stage, where joys, sorrows, and sorrows take place. It’s not a rule that requires everyone to behave in the same way. The more different things happen, the richer the city will be.

And the city appeared temporarily, it was very particular about the activities of people in it. How to meet other people, how to stay together, and how the space becomes a stage. In fact, it is the work itself, but it must be completed by another work. For artists, it is also like an open-air art gallery, providing a lot of space to display everyone’s works.

Q5 How did the design inspiration for Shacheng come about?

Ma Yansong: I imagine an alien city, which is nomadic, separated from the real city, and has no center of gravity. It is in a very special location, on the seaside, on the beach, it is empty, and has a scenery that will not change for hundreds of millions of years. It may have existed before human civilization. I imagine how to talk to such a scene. It is a bit like a kind of “array” that gathers the stage on the ground. When one enters, stays, and passes through, there is a chance to see outside and back inside. I imagine the relationship between the entire city and the changes in the outside world. If compared with more than four billion years, its existence is a small moment. But for those who come here, he may be a very eternal thing: the sand city itself is eternal with everything experienced here, and even if the outside changes, it has nothing to do with it.

Q6 What is the design idea of ​​Shacheng? How do you realize it?

Ma Yansong: The functionality and spirituality of Sand City coexist. We designed an axis perpendicular to the sea, and another relatively hidden axis parallel to the sea, making a cross relationship between them. After people enter, they first circle around the central spiritual space and make a linear circle. When people are in this city, there will be a feeling of passing through and moving all the time. When you are actually planning a city, how people operate, how to provide opportunities for people to meet others: street space is very important. So there are many passages in Shacheng, like the streets in the city, people can move in it, you can go all the way through other spaces, see the exhibitions there, there are performances in some spaces, or people are gathering, you can watch them all. arrive.

There are also several major work spaces, such as a pentagonal art gallery, which contains multimedia display content and party content. It has a cover on it, which is rainproof and windproof, which is relatively noisy. It can accommodate a lot of people at night. There is also a relatively empty square, which is more spiritual. It is centrally located and has a sight line to the sea through the landscape axis. In this space, the so-called spirituality means that people not only have a dialogue with people, but also with the natural landscape. It is equivalent to visually having a framed relationship, making people very clear that they are at the seaside, in this position. And the far-reaching seascape represents time and space, which will extend people’s imagination. Of course, it can also be very noisy, can carry a lot of activities, or it can be quiet. If one or two people go there in the early morning, the feeling will be very different.

This time, the Sand City will be a dynamic, quiet, spiritual, and very noisy space complex. It is very rich and can accommodate all the emotions of people. If you want to be quiet today, think about something alone, maybe tomorrow it is also very important for everyone to get together. Dramas have different performances, and of course they also need different atmospheres, and the design also takes into account the needs of diversity.

Q7 As a temporary city, what do you think of its timeliness?

Ma Yansong: Matter has a timeliness, and the only thing that is eternal is the spirit. Many buildings may be built, and everyone regrets it. It is so strong that even if you don’t want it and regret it, it is still there. But something is gone, and we continue to feel it and be inspired.

I think Sand City may be because it is short-lived. It is a building that is closely related to people’s activities and behaviors from completion to completion. The so-called migratory birds are people who go to other places after the event is over. But the memory about it may be very lasting and stay with you for a long time.

Especially something like sand, when a big wave comes, it is washed straight away.

In fact, the building has been in decline since the moment it was built, and no material can resist the force of nature. But some classic buildings, even if they are in ruins, you still feel that they have a spiritual collision with you. In fact, this is also a value of architecture and physical space. It must be more than just material and spatial function, which is the most basic, it must also give people a memory, inspiration or emotional impact. I usually do architecture, which is actually quite confusing to me, because functionality is very important when doing a lot of things in the city. What you want to give it, it doesn’t necessarily need.

But in a city of dramas, the content naturally gives life to this space, and this combination may give people a very deep impression.

At this moment, Migratory Bird Sand City is slowly growing its outline. Waiting artists, I look forward to your subversion with your works and redefinition with your imagination. We also welcome viewers and friends who are full of curiosity and fate to spend 300 magical and beautiful hours with us.

On June 28, 2022, we will see you by the sea in Anaya.