Mailiao Community Education Park / Zoom Design Atelier

Architects:Zoom Design Atelier

Area:5404m²

Year:2023

Photographs:Jian Zhuo Lai,Yen-Chi Hsu,Mu-Jou Hsu

Lead Architect:Hsu Yan-Chi, Chao Chien-Ming

Architect, Designer:Yen-Chi Hsu, Chien-Ming Chao

Country:Taiwan

Text description provided by the architects. The base is located in the urban area of ​​Mailiao Township, Yunlin County, adjacent to farmland. This area is not far from the sea, and there is a very strong northeast monsoon in winter. Mailiao Community Education Park was donated by Formosa Plastics Corporation for common use by towns in the seaside area. Formosa Plastics Corporation invested in the world's largest petrochemical park nearby.

The two buildings are the living art center and the library. It is configured to block the northeast monsoon in winter, and an egg-shaped open space is formed in the middle, which is called the aesthetic incubation square. In addition to providing various exhibitions, the living art center mainly provides lifelong learning. The library is provided for reading. The population in coastal areas is aging, so the library is mainly for the elderly and children. The site plan and buildings are organized according to organic architectural ideas.

Brick buildings can be seen everywhere in the countryside in Taiwan, and people have a special love for bricks. In order to ventilate and lighten, the traditional pig house provides a comfortable environment for pigs, hollow brickwork is used, which is a very green building. The brick material is taken from the earth, and the expression of the brick building is particularly charming, but since the modernization of the city, this tradition has almost disappeared. One of the key points of this project design is to make full use of old materials to present modernity with historical memory. This is a dialogue between tradition and modernity.

The upper half of the two buildings are laid with bricks, while the first floor has a deeper shadow, and glass is retreated. The ground floor is deliberately compressed to emphasize the horizontality, and inside outside is emphasized, while the outside landscape is introduced into the inside.

The function of the living art center is an exhibition hall and classrooms. It connects all spaces through the atrium space and is a display area of ​​bricks, light, and shadow. In summer, the westward sunlight is very scorching, and in the evening, it will even be directed horizontally. The light and shadow will be generated after being injected, and enter the space after filtering to solve the heat load. Light enters the room through direct and diffuse light, where you can fully feel the time change.

The library entrance is lowered down to the atrium area for elderly and children's reading. Through height difference, the space is separated, and the upper and lower spaces are connected through walking. The organic layout creates more perspective points. The digital reading area is located on the split-level floor, acting as a turning point in front of the second floor.

During walking, to find a suitable place to read. You can choose to see the surrounding scenery by the window or look at the inner core area. The independent reading area formed by each is integrated under a roof. The sloping roof and the split-level floor are expanded to form a diverse reading space. Set up a number of skylights, and a wood ceiling, equipped with lamps under the large roof, to provide a comfortable organic reading space.