Winner: Cultural building of the year 2021 Chinese studio MAD has designed the Yabuli Conference Center, home to annual summits hosted by the China Entrepreneur Forum.

It has been envisioned as a progressive architecture – one that fosters growth, innovative thinking, and is continuously evolving.

Cited along the axis of a mountain, MAD's design of the Yabuli Conference Center is a tent-like structure that is defined by soft, sloping lines. Casually mirroring its mountainous backdrop, it settles quietly into the landscape. While humble in its presence, it does not lose the dynamic atmosphere of northern China – integrated with the sky, the ground, the snow, the forest, and the mountains.

Judges comments: "This takes a lot of knowledge and skill, and it pushes the boundary of architecture in a different direction. This is an unexpected structure that is pushing engineering techniques. This complexity and quality at this scale is quite remarkable."

Architect: MAD Architects
Project: Yabuli Conference Center
Read more: MAD