Project Name: FENIX ART MUSEUM

Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands

Design Team: MAD Architects

Total Floor Area: 8000 m²

Completion: 2025

Photography: Iwan Baan, Titia Hahne, Iris van den Broek

Design Features:

Project - MAD Architects transformed a historic 16,000-square-meter shipping warehouse in Rotterdam's port district into the FENIX Art Museum, a major new cultural institution exploring migration through the lens of art. Completed in 2025, this project marks MAD Architects' first public cultural building in Europe and represents the first museum built by a Chinese architecture firm in Europe.

The design of FENIX Art Museum began with a clear concept: creating a cultural space that connects past and future while respecting industrial heritage. Rather than completely rebuilding the century-old warehouse, the architects implemented careful restoration and contemporary interventions, preserving the building's historic character including restoring the 172-meter-long façade to its 1950s post-war appearance and refurbishing the characteristic sliding doors in their original green color.

The core highlight of the project is the centrally positioned "Tornado"—a double-helix staircase clad in 297 polished stainless steel panels that spirals from the ground floor through the roof to an outdoor viewing platform 24 meters above ground level. This dynamic structure not only provides spectacular panoramic views of Rotterdam and the Maas River but also serves as the visual and spiritual core of the entire museum. Inside the Tornado is a 550-meter-long double-helix wooden staircase made from sustainable Norwegian Kebony modified wood.

In terms of material selection, the architects deliberately preserved the warehouse's original concrete columns and open spaces, creating flexible exhibition areas across two floors. The ground floor contains exhibition and programming spaces, while the upper galleries are dedicated to the FENIX Collection. A glass roof above the central atrium provides natural light for the Tornado while illuminating the entrance lobby below.

Regarding sustainable design, the building features a 6,750-square-meter green roof planted with sedum arranged in concentric patterns echoing the Tornado's form. The building employs a Thermal Energy System (TES) that stores excess heat in the soil and uses a heat pump to generate appropriate indoor temperatures, saving up to 60% in heating energy and 80% in cooling energy.

By combining historic preservation, contemporary intervention, and sustainable technology, MAD Architects has created a cultural destination that transcends traditional museum concepts, authentically expressing FENIX Museum's mission to explore human migration history through art while injecting new vitality into Rotterdam's port district.

Design Team - MAD Architects was established in 2004 by Ma Yansong and is currently led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano. The firm is committed to developing futuristic, organic, technologically advanced designs that embody a contemporary interpretation of the Eastern affinity for nature.

Representative works include Ordos Museum (2011), Harbin Opera House (2015), Tunnel of Light (2018, Japan), and Cloudscape of Haikou (2021), with Harbin Opera House being recognized as one of "The World's Best Concert Halls" by Telegraph and winning the ArchDaily Building of the Year Award in the Culture Architecture category.

Under the continued leadership of Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke Hayano, MAD has gained international recognition, including multiple A+ Awards, WAN Awards, and Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) awards. Ma Yansong graduated from Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture and Yale School of Architecture; Dang Qun graduated from Tsinghua University School of Architecture and Illinois Institute of Technology; Yosuke Hayano graduated from Kyoto Institute of Technology and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, their international backgrounds bringing diverse perspectives to the firm.

MAD's design methodology emphasizes a vision for future cities based on residents' spiritual and emotional needs, striving to create balance between humanity, the city, and the environment. They view architecture as a bridge connecting tradition and modernity, East and West, a philosophy fully demonstrated in the FENIX Art Museum project.