Architect: MAD Architects
Year: 2022
Photographs: Fangfang Tian, Yu Lu, Junliang Li, Kai Zhang, Courtesy of MAD Architects
Lead Architect: Ma Yansong
Client: Guangdong Nanhai Art Field
Location: Taiping Xu, Nanhai, Guangdong
Country: China
Timeless Beacon, a 2022 project by MAD Architects in Taiping Xu, Nanhai, Guangdong, transforms an abandoned market building into an art installation. Combining reflective materials with multimedia elements, the design blends historical memory with futuristic concepts, turning a forgotten site into a vibrant symbol of the village’s rebirth and renewal.
Ma Yansong, on behalf of Guangdong Nanhai Art Field, designed the Timeless Beacon installation in Taiping Xu, Nanhai, Guangdong. This project revitalizes the Taiping market, a historic structure that once served as the largest building in the village. Established during the late Ming Dynasty, the market was a key trading hub for centuries, attracting fishermen, merchants, and villagers until its decline in the 1980s, driven by urbanization and the advent of the internet era.
The migration of younger generations seeking opportunities outside the village, coupled with reduced demand for physical markets, led to the gradual abandonment of the once-thriving fair. Today, Taiping’s empty streets are characterized by a mix of concrete and old brick buildings, with only a few elderly residents remaining, reminiscing about a past full of life and activity.
In reflecting on the site, Ma Yansong shared, “I see many plants growing towards the sun from the gaps of the abandoned building. We hope to create a sense of vitality and rebirth from the ruins so that people can feel new energy and perception from the old structure, as well as a new understanding of time to this whole area.”
Contrasting sharply with the rapid development visible across the river, the quiet village holds onto its historical essence. MAD Architects’ design approach focuses on capturing the lasting emotional significance of the space rather than its diminished functional role. By integrating historical references with futuristic elements, the design creates a surreal atmosphere that reawakens imagination.
The pavilion’s three-story structure is wrapped in reflective film, merging the building with its environment by blurring its physical boundaries. The film mirrors the surrounding aged streets, while the interior maintains the same visual continuity. At the top of the structure, a multimedia light installation features delicate, colorful cloth pieces fluttering in the wind. By night, this feature transforms the building into a modern “lighthouse” that emits a soft, dreamlike glow along the riverside. Timeless Beacon will remain on display until the summer of 2024.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Taiping Xu, Nanhai, Guangdong, China
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
