Heri­tage and history

MAD’s design for Quzhou Sports Campus embeds the func­tions of the sports park within natural forms, crea­ting an earth-art land­scape in the center of the city – a poetic land­scape that falls some­where between that of Earth and Mars. The archi­tects not only dream of crea­ting an urban space about sports and ecology, but also turning it into a unique land art park for the world, estab­li­shing a rela­ti­onship between the city’s heri­tage and history of Shanshui culture.

Moving, drif­ting, clim­bing

The peri­meter of the Quzhou Sports Campus site is surrounded by a dense forest of high-stan­ding trees that secludes the unin­ha­bited land from the city. As one enters, the view suddenly opens up towards broad hori­zons and the bright sky, while simul­ta­neously appearing as a martian land­scape, myste­rious and illu­sory.
The overall envi­ron­ment stret­ches in large expanses and undu­lates; and the terrain of the moun­tains exists in a way that is some­times open, some­times huddled, and some­times over­lap­ping. As people move through the park, they drift, climb, and traverse the terrain. In the middle of park, there is a lake that has also been conceived as a sunken garden. Here, one’s line of sight looks straight out across the still­ness of the water, offe­ring the expe­ri­ence of an untouchable spiri­tual atmo­sphere as it reflects the moun­tains and the sky.

Encou­rage people

The buil­dings in the park breakaway from that of tradi­tional stadiums and athletic complexes that typi­cally high­light struc­tural power, trans­formed by a more intrinsic and subtle beauty.
The inte­riors and exte­riors of the buil­dings are connected to nature, provi­ding an open­ness towards the land­scape for people from anywhere, so that they always feel like they are immersed in nature. Pathways between the moun­tains and the lake meander over and through the archi­tec­ture. They encou­rage people to slowly walk around the park, run along the trails, or just enjoy a seat on the lawn to take in the scenery.

Spirit and mood

Quzhou Sports Campus aban­dons the tradi­tional urban cons­truc­tion model of conven­tional large square land­marks. Drawing on land art and the natural land­scape, it forms a unique urban space, one that is embedded in the spiri­tual under­stan­ding of the people, nature, and culture of the city. In the early stages of human­kind ente­ring modern civi­liza­tion, the Olym­pics put forward the slogan: “faster, higher, stronger”. This coin­cides with our chal­lenges of conquering nature in the rapid deve­lo­p­ment of our modern cities over the past century. As we move forward, the future of urban deve­lo­p­ment has the poten­tial to change and open up in new direc­tions – towards a future where we pursue the harmo­nious rela­ti­onship between man and nature. Ma Yansong (MAD) said: “The rela­ti­onship between man and nature is not only about ecology and sustaina­bi­lity, but it is also about spirit and mood. This is the culture and philo­sophy that has long existed in the history of this land and needs to be applied in the deve­lo­p­ment of our future cities.”