A mall built in the 1980s in downtown Tainan, Taiwan, fell into decline and has become an eyesore to the city. So the Tainan City Government jumped at the opportunity to hire MVRDV for a rejuvenation project after the Dutch-firm submitted their lagoon-inspired proposal to a city-organized competition.
MVRDV’s winning design honors Tainan’s natural landscape and historic role as a marine and fishing industry hotspot.
“Tainan’s natural lagoons and water network served as the city’s base for its marine and fishing industry up until the early 20th century,” the firm explained in a statement. “Land reclamation and a new urban plan devised under Japanese governance saw the city expand rapidly; construction of the New Tainan Canal and Tainan Ship Moorage moved the shipping and fishing industry further inland.”
The shopping mall, called China-Town Mall, was built next to the canal that moved Tainan’s hustle-and-bustle further inland. Instead of starting from scratch, Gizmag reports that MVRDV plans to use some of the canal-side mall’s existing structure to create lagoons, pavilions, and kiosks.
Making up the majority of the mall’s former site are open-air park areas. “Once dismantled, the exposed structure of China-Town Mall will form the base for the new public square, a lush, green lagoon with dunes and playgrounds,” the firm says.
Related Stories
| Nov 12, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Foundation completes uber-green Brock Environmental Center, targets Living Building certification
More than a decade after opening its groundbreaking Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the group is back at it with a structure designed to be net-zero water, net-zero energy, and net-zero waste.
| Nov 12, 2014
Designs by three finalists for new Beethoven concert hall unveiled
David Chipperfield and Valentiny are among the finalists for a new concert hall being built to commemorate Beethoven’s 250th birthday in his hometown of Bonn, Germany.
| Nov 7, 2014
NORD Architects releases renderings for Marine Education Center in Sweden
The education center will be set in a landscape that includes small ponds and plantings intended to mimic an assortment of marine ecologies and create “an engaging learning landscape” for visitors to experience nature hands-on.
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 19, 2014
White House Visitor Center reopens in Washington, D.C.
Designed by SmithGroupJJR and Gallagher & Associates, renovated center shows public its unique role as office, stage, museum, park, and home.
| Oct 17, 2014
OMA, OLIN design unanimously chosen for D.C. elevated park
In the design, the ends of the bridge are pulled upward to form an "X" shape. It allows ample room for add-ons such as a cafe and performance space, in addition to open space for plazas, lawns, and urban agriculture plots.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 16, 2014
Rocky Mountain Institute breaks ground on net-zero Innovation Center
Encompassing the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 32 years of innovation, the new 15,610 square-foot facility will exhibit the principles of integrative design and energy and resource efficiency.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
