Taichung Cultural City Center Competition Entry / de Architekten Cie.

Written by Alison Furuto

The proposal for the Taichung Cultural City Center by de Architekten Cie. is composed of a well-defined system of voids as the museum and the library are designed as a flexible structure to be able to follow frequent changes in museum and library philosophy. Lifts and escalators are built into both buildings to provide an indubitable vertical communication and an evident orientation for future visitors. More images and architects' description after the break.

Open and closed interiors are repetitively stacked on top of each other and are refined by bended floors and curved atria. It enables a variety of atmospheres from the dimmed daylight condition which is ideal for placing computer screens, video installations and spot-illuminated fine objects, to the transparent open-in-park-visual-integrated spaces for working, reading and exhibiting contemporary art pieces. The garden perimeter filters the relation between interior and exterior differently on each floor.

The energy consumption of buildings in Taiwan is characterized by their need for mechanical cooling and lighting. A smart building consists of a design that keeps direct sun light out but letting indirect daylight in and utilizes the environmental conditions of the site to its advantage. This building is positioned in such a way that it makes use of the local wind currents for cooling in combination with the recycling of rainwater to further reduce the structure temperature from the outside.

The remaining characteristics of this design are based on the sun path in Taiwan. At noon in the summer, the sun is positioned almost directly above the earth. And there is only direct sunlight penetration in the east and west facades in the morning and afternoon. For this purpose, the design proposes giant canopies oriented along the east and west axis.

In order to further reduce the sunlight penetration, a combination of vegetation and an outer skin made out of cloth is used to creates a buffer zone. The cloth on the east and west faced of the building is integrated with photovoltaic wires and serves as an energy generator for the building. The cloth on the north and south faced of the building serves as the drainage system for rainwater.

Taichung Cultural City Center Competition Entry / de Architekten Cie. - Image 6 of 18 — site plan

The energy consumption for lighting is reduced by the optimal use of natural light. The east and west sides of the building include cleverly designed daylight openings, allowing indirect sunlight to be reflected inwards. The east and west facades have a set back of a few meters which is wide enough to allow glass panels to be completely transparent. The artificial lighting system consists entirely of the latest energy saving technologies (LED) and efficient regulators, so that energy is consumed only in areas with human activities.

Architects
de Architekten Cie
Location
Taichung, Taiwan
Project Architects
Branimir Medić & Pero Puljiz
Team
Lenka Rezbarikova, Maria Yandulova, Bozar Ben-Zeev, Fracesco Visco, Jarno Cammarota, Christina Chen
Taiwan Consultants
Prof Tseng
Sustainability Advisors
Antwan van Haaren (dgmr), Paul van Bergen (dgmr)
Project Year
2013
Photographs
de Architekten Cie.
Architects
de Architekten Cie