MAD LA: Ma Yansong and Los Angeles

Ma, who makes his home in Pacific Palisades, is in fact a superstar in his native country, China, where he has completed skyscrapers, opera houses, museums, apartments and entire neighborhoods. But both there and here, like a quiet, mysterious character in one of Lucas’ tales (Boba Fett comes to mind), he hovers in the background, nonetheless wielding enormous power.The Los Angeles Times today published a Sam Lubell profile of Ma Yansong, founder and creative mind of of Beijing- and LA-based MAD Architects. Rendering courtesy of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.Yansong talks about his under-construction Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the Gardenhouse residential complex in Beverly Hills, reaction to criticism, inspiration by nature and movies, and why he actually doesn't like talking at all. "I don’t know why artists need to talk so much," he says in the piece. "I think my work can speak for me." Related reading: Archinect's conversation, A new nature: Interview with Ma Yansong of MAD Architecture