Luminous Moon-Gate was designed in 2013 for the Taichung City Cultural Center International Competition. The design intent hints at multiple interpretative roles for Taichung: a portal into heightened consciousness, a lantern of knowledge, a catalyst for metropolitan living, a cultural lung for the body of the city, a gate toward a responsible future, a center regenerative of community life, a landmark for orientation.
In traditional Chinese iconography, a Moon-Gate symbolizes a gateway ?to the Garden of Paradise.? The paradise of our Information Age aspires to be a future where knowledge and culture shape humankind. The combination of a Library and Museum is uniquely suited to provide the basis for this future, and the Moon-Gate-like 10-story form of the Library is a potent metaphor for this direction.
The Grand Stair is an allegory of the power of knowledge, accessible to all citizens of a free society. Majestic in scale, it marks the entry point to the Great Forum of the Library. The vertical culmination of the Library is the Great Reading Room, the architectural center where knowledge gets internalized. The library and museum act as both a singular cultural landmark and entrance to the greater Urban Park. Each building axis points to pivotal parts of the park and the city. The buildings feature largely glass surfaces that draw passersby throughout the day and serve as a beacon of activity at night.
Architecture is inherently sustainable when the design intent springs from a genuine commitment to the betterment of society. From the low porosity of building materials for controlled collection of water and heat, enhanced passive ventilation, and movable daylight louvers and micro shutters, we envision these structures as breathing machines, where natural elements have a controlled and beneficial access to the well-being of their occupants.
View Original