The cultural center located within the Taichung Gateway District will house a public library and fine arts museum within one single institution. Our proposal arranges the cultural center around a public space open towards the city and Gateway Park. The building is conceived as a single loop of public space and cultural institutions twisting into a continuous organization that combines the virtues of both institutions, maximizing interdisciplinary exchange while preserving their autonomy.

The building is a symbiosis of urbanity and nature with the two institutions and their shared public facilities gathered around an outdoor urban plaza which opens towards both the city and Gateway Park. The urban plaza will attract the everyday life of Taichung flowing through its gateway while framing views of Taiwan Tower. On special occasions it will turn into an outdoor gallery or urban stage to extend the art into the city as well as the city into the institution. Visitors enter through a shared lobby underneath the building’s 6m lift which leads to the public plaza. The south wing of the building tilts into the park landscape for continuous pedestrian access over top of the building from Gateway Park and Taiwan Tower.

TYPE: Culture
LOCATION: Taichung, TW
STATUS: 2013, Competition
AREA: 62,000 m2
CLIENT: Taichung City Government
ENGINEER: Buro Happold
ENVIRONMENTAL: Buro Happold
VISUALIZER: Luxigon
ARCHITECT: PAR: Jennifer Marmon, Partner in Charge; Matthew Young, Project Architect; Team: Ross Ferrari,Leandro Yuang, Josshua Mattias, Ruben Rodela, Youree Hong, David Burpee

AWARDS
International Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum / European Center for Architecture, 2014
Unbuilt Design Award, Boston Society of Architects, Boston, US, 2014
Re-Thinking the Future Award, Honorable Mention, Public Building ‘Concept,’ 2014
Azure AZ Award, Finalist, Toronto, 2014
International Design Award, Conceptual, First Place, 2014
International Design Award, Institutional, Second Place, 2014