International Taiwan trip 23 - 26 November 2016
Introduction
An interesting Taiwan-Taoyuan International Airport formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (CKS International Airport). The airport has obviously portrayed the building design in the 70s. The terminal 1 was designed by a Taiwanese structural engineer Tung Yen Lin in the 70s. The gigantic structure design and the architectural language has given us an impression of the architecture of its era with an integration of Chinese cultural influence in the design.
The coach trip from the airport to the city has given us a great impression on the landscape of suburban scenery to the cityscape. The city of Taipei is located on the great topography of hillside and waterside of Tamsui River with the vast area of green space. The whole trip has provided us a new interesting perspective of architecture, city creative and recreation public space, and green building technology.
Building technology
SDT E-Waste Recycle Taoyuan
Our first visit of building technology was the SDT E-Waste Recycle Taoyuan, which locates nearby the airport. The factory is located on the seashore of Taoyuan District where it used to be a chemical dump area. Large recycle material dump yards have dominated most of the area along with numbers of modern architecture buildings and warehouses. Office buildings facades were designed with vertical and horizontal fins which made from recycle materials. The SDT E-Waste Recycle is one of Taiwan's largest manufacturing company for recycling material production. The company collects electronic waste such as computer main board from all over the country and reproduced them to household use products and even building material products such as building shading devices. An interest idea by the Taiwan Government is that they aimed to transform the previous dirty chemical polluted area to be a useful waste recycling manufacturing which is not just provide a big improvement for the environmental condition but also provide jobs for the local community.
The factory is the manufacturing company about the products for smart building system. Delta is one of the well-known brand for building system control's electronic equipment in the world, not just for the operation system but also for energy sustainability. Moreover, the company are keen on the environmental impact so they were focused on their products' development toward smart and green manufacturing direction.
Architecture
Taipei 101
The famous Taipei 101 is the Taipei's largest financial center of the country. It is Taipei's iconic landmark building which houses multi-storey shopping mall, stores, restaurants, and clubs. The building used to be the world tallest building since 2004 to 2010 as well as the world's largest and highest green building with the awarded for LEED platinum certification regarding the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Another impressive design for the building is the designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. The famous damping system design of the building to prevent the building from swaying has attract many tourists from all over the world to visit and learn how the system works. Eventually, it has become one of the magnet to draw visitors to Taipei 101.
Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch
Taipei Green Library located in Beitou District, northern Taipei. It is the first green architecture library in Taiwan. The whole library constructed from timber with the design concept to save energy and being an environmental friendly building. The library consists of two-storey timber structure building, which notable as being constructed to be an eco-friendly green building. The building was designed to minimize water and electricity consumption by providing large windows to reduce the consumption of electricity for lighting as well as maximizing natural air ventilation. The roof was designed in the actual best sun angle for solar cell panels to generate electricity and also designed to capture rain water for toilets flushing.
The design for the surrounding landscape also provide building with nice shade and minimize the heat conduction. The exterior design of the building is aesthetically beautiful whereas the interior design is simplified with suitable atmosphere for reading. The interesting space for visitors is the upper floor terrace outdoor reading area which can also be a scenic view point.
EcoARK Pavilion
It is the world's first PET bottle built structure to raise an awareness about recycling and environment. The building consists of three stories with spaces for amphitheater, exhibition hall, and the small exhibition rooms. It was claimed to be the world's lightest building but eventually strong enough to withstand typhoon wind and earthquake forces. The architectural design concept derived from the concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle for environmental sustainability. With the PET bottle facade, natural lighting has been easily penetrated into the interior space, not only to provide lighting inside but also provide an interest lighting effect to the building. The building facade that made of plastic bottles have given us a great impression for reusing recycle materials to produce a new architectural design. The design of the facades provide great aesthetic design feature, particularly the natural light affects through the plastic bottles have given new tone of a warm feeling light.
Urban Public Space (Creative and Recreation)
Huashan1914 Creative park
The concept of building preservation has been applied throughout the world. Huashan 1914 Creative Park is another project which harmoniously integrate the old and the new to provide a new recreation public space for Taipei. It is a creative urban space that is also the shopping destination for visitors to obtain designers' original handmade design products. It has a great atmosphere for urban recreation where local hipster teenagers love to hangout. The featured space of the park are small galleries and cinema that show Indy movies.
Fujin street
Fujin street is Taipei's famous hips shopping area where the local residents and visitors can enjoy variety of shops. All shops in the area have been renovated in the fifty to sixty years old shop houses with a new attached facade. However, the interesting point is that the design for each shop has been associated with their products which provide an impressive feeling for the visitors when they walk into the shops. Each individual shop has its uniqueness in relation to the products they sell. Moreover, there are large trees along the footpaths that have provided a nice walking atmosphere under the shade.
Maokong Gondola (Cable car)
The trip on Maokong Gondola to the Maokong's area provided some interesting views of Taipei from the sky. It is a gondola lift transportation system that transport people from Taipei Zoo MRT station to Maokong station upon the mountain side. It is a great retrieve from the chaotic city atmosphere with a nice scenery panoramic view of Taipei City from the mountain.
Fish Market
It is a great idea to uplift a fish market with a new design and turned it to be one of Taipei's famous destination. The building planning has provided users with convenience circulation and accesses to purchase all kinds of foods (fresh and ready cooked) with a feeling that all products are fresh. The interior design spaces have been designed with a well controlled natural light. The market also has a separate well organized restaurant and dinning zone.
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