A high performance skin enshrouds stacked volumes elevated off the ground in Cultural Cloud, global architecture firm RMJM architects' proposal for the Taichung city cultural center, located at the Northeast corner of Taichung park, at the gateway to the city.
With arts and culture at the core of Taichung’s urban identity, and the vision to lead in innovation and technology, this design proposal by RMJM seeks to bring together these significant attributes in a building emblematic of Taichung’s achievements and vision.
Located at the corner of Taichung Gateway Park, the project becomes an urban oasis and a vital link between existing communities and future urban development, providing a social and cultural focus and an arrival gateway to the park. More images and architects’ description after the break.
We live in an archival era characterized by an impulse to collect, where all our experiences are supported by technological additions and digital information monitoring. A cultural center is a place of learning and a repository of information, in essence, a large archive.
This accumulation of information can be thought of as a sort of “digital cloud,” an invisible archive of sorts. Linked to this technological framework, the design is envisioned as a “Cultural Cloud” symbolizing what is at once both ethereal and of our age, ancient and futuristic.
The “Cultural Cloud” will be an iconic landmark for Taichung, and a tribute to Taiwan’s transformation from an agricultural island to one of the high-tech leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, with Taichung as the gateway.
Location: Taichung, Taiwan Architects: RMJM Project Team: Mahasti Fakourbayat (Design Principal); Andrea Pietrucci (Team Leader); Hao Li (Design Architect); Stefano Tronci, Alice Yeh, Anson Tsui, Dominika Henzel, Edward Wu (Design Team) Mep/Sustainability: Arup Structural Engineer: Severud Associates Size: 63,700 sqm Year: 2013