Sériès et Sérièes, French-Californian practice, in successful collaboration with engineering partner Buro Happold did a proposal for Taiwan’s Taichung City Cultural Center. The project is rooted in architects’ vision of how the urban interventions of new age have to be – they have to have minimal environmental impact and very high visibility, in order to have the strength and power to shift the perceptions of a neighborhood and to change the common thought into the realm of what is possible to be done but has never been done before.

Due to the fact that the authors from Sériès et Sérièes believe in a fact that the success of the cultural center lies in the ability of the built environment to actually inspire the residents to look beyond the common and expected, materialistic and the easily consumed, in favor of the stimulating and daring. The the Taichung Fine Arts Museum and Library is designed to become a sustainable landmark.

In order to become a landmark, the form of the project resists easy classification – it avoids the association with successive symbols of the industrial, the abstract, the utilitarian and the poetic. It is done in mixing maximum efficiency with maximum artistry. The building takes a geometrical stand in relation to the surroundings and creates a microcosm of the natural environment within public space, as a reference to the natural landscape of Taiwan, known for its various altitudes and diverse microclimates.

The building of the Center is built in simple materials – the main facades are clad in a square, distorted, metal mesh panels, creating the appearance of stone. The Center is designed as a sustainable global gateway, representing Taiwan’s cultural progress, innovation, and modern commerce.