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
| Apr 16, 2014
Upgrading windows: repair, refurbish, or retrofit [AIA course]
Building Teams must focus on a number of key decisions in order to arrive at the optimal solution: repair the windows in place, remove and refurbish them, or opt for full replacement.
| Apr 15, 2014
12 award-winning structural steel buildings
Zaha Hadid's Broad Art Museum and One World Trade Center are among the projects honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction for excellence in structural steel design.
| Apr 15, 2014
Chipperfield's sparkling brass-clad scheme selected to be new home of Nobel Prize
The distinctive building, with its shimmering vertical brass elements and glass façade design, beat out two other finalists in the Nobel Center architectural competition.
| Apr 11, 2014
First look: KPF's designs for DreamWorks in the massive Shanghai DreamCenter
Two blocks of offices will be centerpiece of new cultural and lifestyle district in the West Bund Media Port.
| Apr 11, 2014
Start your engines: Ferrari plans to build first ever hotel
Clad in the carmaker's signature "Ferrari red," the hotel will resemble the grill and hood of one of its iconic cars.
| Apr 9, 2014
Colossal aquarium in China sets five Guinness World Records
With its seven salt and fresh water aquariums, totaling 12.87 million gallons, the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park is considered the world’s largest aquarium.
| Apr 9, 2014
Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C
Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.
| Apr 8, 2014
Gehry, Foster unveil plans for Battersea Power Station redevelopment [slideshow]
Phase 3 of the massive redevelopment of the London landmark will include more than 1,300 residential units, a 160-room hotel, and 350,000 sf of retail space.
| Apr 2, 2014
8 tips for avoiding thermal bridges in window applications
Aligning thermal breaks and applying air barriers are among the top design and installation tricks recommended by building enclosure experts.
| Mar 26, 2014
Callison launches sustainable design tool with 84 proven strategies
Hybrid ventilation, nighttime cooling, and fuel cell technology are among the dozens of sustainable design techniques profiled by Callison on its new website, Matrix.Callison.com.
