MAD Architects, founded in Beijing in 2004 by Ma Yansong, is one of the best-known young Chinese architectural studios world-wide: in 2008 ICON magazine included it among the 20 most influential young architectural studios today.
Following an apprenticeship in the studio of Zaha Hadid, which had a significant impact on his formal studies with use of digital technologies, Ma Yansong began his career working primarily on residential and office buildings, cultural centres and installations.
MAD Architects, now led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun and Yosuke Hayano, was awarded a scholarship by the American Institute of Architects in 2001 and won the Architecture League Young Architects Award in 2006. In 2011 Ma Yansong won an international RBA scholarship.