Tainan waterfront
An Urban Lagoon Netherland based architecture studio MVRDV was announced winner for the competition to reconnect Tainan’s center to its waterfront. Following a flourishing period of the fishing and marine industry that led to a rapid expansion of the city, the city waterfront was forgotten and left behind, when a big China-Town Mall was built, although it didn’t last long, and soon it was abandoned. The team’s design is aiming at re-creating a long lost connection to the nature by ”transforming the China-Town Mall and its perpendicular axis Haian Road, which together form the T-axis” and to ”re-establish the waterfront connection and provide an important stimulus to the redevelopment of the neighbourhood by encouraging the use of public spaces and creating a cohesive urban language. ”
Courtesy of MVRDV. Image © APLUS CG
According to the proposal the plan is to use the structure of the China-Town Mall as a base for the new public space. Alongside the public square, a luxuriant green lagoon, playgrounds and walking lanes, there will be also small commercial boutiques and kiosks, an info point, a teahouse and a gallery. The routing system is configured in such a way as to reduce the traffic speed, and at night the roads in this area would be completely closed, in order to give pedestrians access to pedestrian only route.
Courtesy of MVRDV. Image © APLUS CG
Winy Maas: “This flooded old mall is going to be a poetic lagoon and an hip urban pool: a symbolic act.” Alongside the waterfront, an artificial beach will be created, together with a promenade, to restore the lost view other the sea. ”The current amalgamation of different pavements will be unified according to various functions to improve wayfinding. This approach is further applied to the scattered objects along the road: ventilation shafts, elevators and entrances to the underground parking garage will be wrapped in a glass skin, and extended to create new pavilions, kiosks and viewing towers. An array of ‘lanterns’ of various sizes will appear, activating the public space and creating a cohesive urban language. Additionally, local trees and shrubs will be planted all along Haian Road, creating a green corridor through to the new lagoon and the reconnected waterfront.” The beginning of the construction Tainan, Taiwan, is scheduled for September 2016.
Courtesy of MVRDV. Image © APLUS CG
Project Info:
Architects: MVRDV
Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Year: 2015
Client : Tainan City Government
Program : Transformation of 5.46 ha into public space
Team: MVRDV / Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries with Jeroen Zuidgeest, Hui-Hsin Liao, Ángel Sánchez Navarro, Stephan Boon
Images: Aplus Digital Technology Co., Ltd
Partners:
Urban Planners: The Urbanists Collaborative, Taipei, Taiwan
Local Architect: LLJ Architects, Taipei, Taiwan
Landscape Designers: Progressive Environmental Inc., Taipei Taiwan
Structure Design: Urban Sculptor, Taipei, Taiwan
Traffic Engineers: THI Consultants Inc., Taipei, Taiwan
MEP: Songsing Engineering Consultants Inc., Taipei, Taiwan
By Cristina Juc
Cristina Juc is passionate about the intersection of technology, design, and architecture. A former Assistant Editor and Writing Intern at Arch2O, she contributed insightful content exploring innovation in the built environment. Her involvement in events like the Transylvania Biennial of Architecture reflects her ongoing commitment to architectural discourse. Currently the Executive Director at Spherik Accelerator, Cristina supports startups driving change across creative and tech industries. With a background in community building and educational tech, she continues to champion forward-thinking solutions that shape how we design, build, and experience space.