The project is aiming to define a strong identity of the new cultural center for Taichung City and its Metropolitan Area. The site is fulfilled with an architectural design that merges into landscape and dialogues with the urban areas. It is a place of culture, of sensations, a framework for the growing of mind and spirit. A common area between the public library and the fine arts museum is the heart of CULTURE. There, new green areas, water basins and views on the park and the city can be perceived. We call it the LANTERN ambiance, as a setting for improvement, learning, thinking, sharing ideas. Layers of transparencies envelop the cores of culture: books and arts objects. The reading areas and the museum’s corridors are ambient of spatial and lighting experiences. One of the main focus for the project is the connection between park and city. The two merges thanks to a new landscape defining visual and physical links, at different levels, with the surroundings. An open air sculpture garden and a series of water basins and green areas are close to the “Wave-making pool” (used for the making of the masterpiece ‘Life of Pi’). Visual and physical corridors connect the city to the park and to new areas of restaurants, meeting rooms and exhibition areas. Un upper level offers breath-taking views on the park and the project. All these spaces are public and open to social relations: indoor and outdoor plazas.
year: 2013
location: Taichung, Taiwan
function: public library & fine arts museum
scale: 62,000.00 sqm
client: Taichung City Council
design team: Lorena Alessio
Silvio Marsanic, Nicola Rosato, Chiara Brusati, Elena Abbate, Veronica Comba, Giulia Mondino, Francesca Lupo – internships: Lee Wonseok, Bae Hyunjung
art director/graphics: Rosali Alessio
Local Architects: Banmutang Environmental Integration Group, Taichung, Taiwan
Circulation & Traffic Consultant: David Ta-Wei Poo, Chairman of Mega Trans International Corporation, Taipei, Taiwan design phases: preliminary design international competition