The goal of ISA and NEAR Design for the Kaohsiung Port Station, serving the largest harbor in Taiwan, is to revitalize the Port station area into a Transitional Park (Trans-Park) where daily life and events, past and future, landscape and city, land and water coexists. With the city’s cultural production and tourism in mind, the site will become an icon of Kaohsiung. More images and architects’ description after the break.
One of the main goals of this project was to emphasize the unique railway landscape. The contrast between the solid geometric urban blocks and the wide open void emphasizes the linear and expanding condition of the railways. The placing of the organic blocks patches the Shou mountain and the water.
With the diverse programs placed around the railway and the organic blocks, activity bands (culture band, tourism band, green and blue band, arts and performances band) are interweaved with the railway and expands towards the harbor and the two piers. The geometric block is designed to clearly mark the urban edge. The organic block buildings, a reinterpretation of the traditional round shaped building with inner courts Tulou, provides a unique spacial experience in the park area.
The landscape design is focused in the preservation/revitalization of the railways. The railways are preserved 100% and extended towards the harbor and Penglai Cha. Floating landscapes are moveable furniture that utilizes the rail tracks to provide diverse spatial arrangements depending on the need of the users. We also use the railway for tramlines connecting the Zuoying station and the Ferry station for the convenience of the ferry users.
