The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell includes the renovation and addition to an existing outdated facility. Located within close proximity to downtown Lowell, the new club will include 65,000 sq ft of space. The new design makes a strong connection with the adjacent Clemente Park and the National Historic Park Canal Parkway.
TAICHUNG MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
TAICHUNG, TAIWAN
The Taichung City Cultural Center is sited at the entrance to Taichung Gateway Park. It will provide citizens with a multipurpose cultural, artistic, and recreational facility, including a world-class museum of fine arts and public library—a symbol of progress, not only for the city but also for Taiwan. It will command an international presence, promoting new art forms, in addition to valuable resources for local residents. The technologically advanced, environmentally conscious scheme projects a progressive vision.
LOCATION
Taichung, Taiwan
PROGRAM
Museum
SIZE
2.6 hectares
STATUS
Competition
CLIENT
Taichung City
COLLABORATORS
Buro Happold Engineers
DISTINCTIONS
Commendation
The landscape rises to meet the building at the terminus of the major axis. A grand exhibition hall spans the length of the building along the north-south axis. The facility is designed for optimum flexibility, capable of housing a variety of venues. The large exterior mall functions as a public gathering space. The honorific grand stair and mall’s landscape provide a civic presence for the building within the park. From inside the grand hall, there are framed views to the landscape beyond, forming a strong connection between nature and the built form. The building is open and transparent at the street and burrowed into the landscape at the south. The library is an open plan for versatility, future growth, and accommodation of various new multimedia technologies.
Several “buildings within the building” are articulated as special programmatic elements including the children’s reading room, the technology room, and the exhibition hall. The library and museum are designed to bring the exterior in and through the building. The pattern derived from the landscape reflects onto the building surfaces, becoming a means by which the interior surfaces are also penetrated.
