
Ma Yansong's first museum in Europe is a ‘metaphor' for migration
Ma Yansong is gesturing at a spiraling staircase inside the atrium of a building. The founder of MAD Architects —the Chinese firm behind the soon-to-open Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles—is in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to inaugurate the opening of his first museum in Europe, and he is talking about movement. Of forms, yes, but mostly of people.
The museum, called Fenix, sits on the edge of Rotterdam's historic port, which was also the first Chinatown in continental Europe. It was here, from the banks of the River Maas, where millions of emigrants—Albert Einstein included—boarded ships toward North America in search of better opportunities. And it is here, in the building that once housed the world's largest harbor storage warehouse for the Holland America Line, that Yansong has come to reflect on the meaning of migration.
Bureau Polderman. MAD's tangled staircase connects both floors, then swoops out through the roof into a panoramic platform that offers sprawling views of the city. 'I think it's an architectural element, but it's also a metaphor; it has a storytelling function,' Yansong says.
'It's not about numbers'
Fenix is opening at a time in which migrants around the world are being vilified, humiliated, deported. The EU has been hardening its migration policy for years, and hard-right parties are fast gaining ground —in the Netherlands as well. Since President Donald Trump took office, he has shifted nearly every aspect of U.S immigration policy to constrict regular immigration pathways, deport primarily black and brown immigrants living in the U.S. regardless of their legal status or criminal history, and instill fear among those who remain.
The final deadline for Fast Company's Brands That Matter Awards is Friday, May 30, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US expects to result of probe into chip imports in two weeks
TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) -The Trump administration will announce the result of a national security probe into imports of semiconductors in two weeks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday, without providing details. Lutnick told reporters after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the investigation - which is expected to result in tariffs on chips imports - was one of the "key reasons" the EU sought to negotiate a broader trade agreement that would "resolve all things at one time." Trump said many companies would be investing in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, including some from Taiwan and other places, to avoid getting hit by new tariffs. Sign in to access your portfolio


Bloomberg
17 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trump Says a Deal Has Been Reached With the EU
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with US President Donald Trump at Trump Turnberry golf club in Scotland on July 27. The leaders agreed to a deal that will see the bloc face 15% tariffs on most of its exports, including automobiles, staving off a trade war that could have delivered a hammer blow to the global economy. (Source: Bloomberg)

Wall Street Journal
19 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Says U.S. Reached a Trade Deal With European Union
Trump Says U.S. Reached a Trade Deal With European Union President Trump announced a trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union after meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, marking his biggest deal so far. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images