2013 – Wind/Wing : Taichung City Cultural Center _ Taichung Taïwan

 
Project Wind/Wing : Taichung City Cultural Center (Temple of Art & Gardens of Knowledge)
Program Public Library & Fine Arts Museum
Area 70 000 m²
Place Taichung – Taïwan
Client Competition : Taichung city
Team Eric Cassar, Lamia Nekaa, Mark Shtanov, Mourad Bencheikh, Andrea Sender, Luiza Canuto

General principles Taichung City Cultural Center (TCCC) will not only offer knowledge by its books and exhibitions, but also, by it’s important influential role in the district, trying to engage the community to have better social connections and to have sustainable habits.
Contextual and made of a combination of historical, cultural aspects and high technologies, TCCC will be a Taichung icon, reconnecting people with art, knowledge and nature through poetry and sustainability.
With three main signatures, the project has an innovative character uniting energy production, flexible spaces and sustainable and natural materials.
1- “The wind wall”, on the north façade of the library, is made of biological concrete which absorbs the CO2 and creates a “living envelope” that changes with time. Its wind turbines positioned on the main wind direction, produce eolian energy and naturally ventilate the building.
2- As the sail of a boat that can be removed, “the moving wing” has an automatic system that can wrap and unwrap the textile layer over the metallic structure. It enables the creation of different atmospheres and the capacity to respond to natural events (rain, sun). Thanks of its inner movement and because it is located on the main wind direction, it changes the building shape and the environment underneath depending on the climat.
3- The museum “movable boxes“ in recycled containers host the special exhibitions installations. They can be easily moved, providing a variety of spaces of different scales and the possibility to better control the internal atmosphere in each box.

 
 

The project

Making part of the master plan of a whole new district in Taichung, the City Cultural Center (Public Library & Fine Arts Museum) is located inside a park, in the site of an ancient airport.
The construction was designed taking into consideration the local aspects: culture, materials, climate and technology with regard to highlight Taiwan’s innovative potentials and also to minimize carbon emissions.
The program was developed exploring not only the inner spaces, but also the external areas, in favor of being always connected with the whole district, and to create a social link between the community. Even though the museum and the library are independent and flexible spaces, they operate in perfect harmony.

 

The Library: Gardens of Knowledge

Its vegetal roof is made of a variety of gardens. Its architecture design intends to create a functional and flexible space with different atmospheres. That way depending on its needs, will or mood, each one can study in the adapted environment.
With movable shelves, large opened spaces and a variety of rooms with different sizes, illumination, sound intensity, exterior view and temperature, the occupant will be capable of choosing the place that suits him/her better.

 

The museum: Temple of Art

The architecture design aims to create a contemporary prototype of the traditional temple, where sustainable strategies and innovative methods of construction are adapted. The museum is organized around a generous atrium with a series of flexible rooms “the movable boxes” made of recycled containers that permit to transform the inner space according to each exhibition or event.

 

Public Opened Spaces; “In Between”

The building will be expressive and visible from a long distance and its first connection with the city and the park will be through its public areas. To get inside the building, occupants will be progressively extracted from the urban environment, passing through gradient environments (in between spaces) while being prepared to be connected with art and Knowledge.
The Library Gardens, the Library Café and the Amphitheater will be completely opened for the public, in permanent connection with the Park. On the opposite side of the site, a wide open wall that offer exhibition glimpses, the Museum Café and Museum Plaza will link TCCC with the main avenue, inviting people to explore the complex.

 

Playing with natural events; Creating flexible spaces

The building will be flexible not only to enable different ways to explore it, but also, to be adaptable to natural events.
Those natural elements, combined or not with high technologies, are responsible both for turning the complex into an energy provider for the district and for minimizing the use of artificial systems to control the inner comfort.
Besides their pragmatic value, poetic effects will be composed through the usage of rain water, wind, sun heat, daylight…
In the library gardens, rain water will be collected by glass water courses that, when in contact with day light, will promote an unique way to let the light be diffused and to see the sky from the inside.
In the south façade of the museum, the algae panels (energy source) will also have an aesthetic value with its colors that change with time and create different illumination effects inside and outside the construction.

 

An ecological benchmark: An Intelligent Building connected to an Intelligent District

Assisted by “the core”, a high technology system, TCCC will be an Intelligent Building, connected to the whole Taichung District, in order to create an Intelligent and Sustainable City.
The complex will be 100% self-sustaining, will produce zero carbon emissions and will work as a carbon filter.
Being an energy producer (photovoltaic and algae panels, combined with wind turbines) the complex will sometimes produce more energy than it needs and will be able to feed Taichung District network by this extra energy.
This network will connect the water reuse, always looking for the maximum use of the natural elements.
“The core” will automatically regulate all artificial systems (air conditioning, illumination, …) according to the climate conditions and the occupancy of the building in order to have an optimized use of energy.

 

Nspaces

TCCC will be linked to libraries, museums and cultural institutions around the world giving its occupants the possibility to explore not only its own physical spaces, but also several other spaces (physical and virtual) that are connected to the complex.