Taichung Convention Center by MAD

Beijng architects MAD have designed a convention centre for Taichung, Taiwan.

The project will consist of a series of mountain-like buildings with pleated exterior surfaces, allowing natural ventilation and accommodating photovoltaic panels.

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The architects wanted to seamlessly integrate the topology of the landscape and the architecture.

Here are some more details from Mad:

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TAICHUNG
CONVENTION CENTER
2009

Beijing based MAD Architects has recently completed the design for the Taichung Convention Center, its first project in Taiwan commissioned by the Taiwanese government.

Taichung requires a metropolitan landmark that can go beyond the local to renew urban life and redefine the cultural landscape of the city, launching Taichung into the arena of world class cultural cites.

This requires unique architectural concepts and a new kind of architectural philosophy.

No longer characterized by mere considerations of height or visual impact, landmark buildings must first and foremost foster public recreation and inspire communication and imagination, redefining our relationship to culture and nature.

This project is conceived as a continuous weave of architecture and landscape, a futuristic vision based on a naturalistic spirit. The design inherits Chinese architecture’s long-standing attitude towards holistic integration and order of space, employing the essence of the East’s philosophy of a harmonized cycle between human and nature.

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In the face of the project’s enormous scale, the architecture no longer exists as a series of individual blocks, but instead is rendered as a collective form.

The resultant spaces come into focus in a natural order emerging from air, wind and light, fostering a resonance between human and nature.

The site and the program of this project are inherently high-energy. The ‘mountains’ provide a calming and unifying skin, and yet, under its calm surface, there are topological potentials waiting to be discovered.

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On the one hand, the architecture’s crater-shaped formation and resulting rotundas are the outcome of found site conditions.

On the other, it simultaneously shapes and influences the surrounding environment, opening up a dialogue between architecture and landscape.

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The surface of the ‘mountains’ is a high-tech, eco-friendly pleated skin system. The smocking-like envelope provides air flow to the building while keeping energy consumption at a minimum by utilizing solar energy.

The open courtyards that connect the individual mountains are integrated into a natural sequence of outdoor spaces.

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Like the quest for a harmonic coexistence between people and nature exemplified by Forbidden City and ancient Chinese gardens, this project seeks greater meaning in its non-material qualities, spaces encircled with the upmost naturalistic spirit.

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A single tree, a patch of bamboo, or a pond become central figures of the space. This approach to sustainable development is based not on technology, but on traditional philosophy and aesthetics.

Tai Chung, Taiwan
Type: Exhibition, Convention Halls, Office, Hotel, Retail
Site Area: 70,318 sqm
Building Area: 216,161 sqm
Building Height: 39m-85m
Skin: Pleated Skin System with Double Photvoltaic Glass