Faced with today’s massive growth of the city, the most important question to answer is how to produce a liveable city fabric? In this respect the typology of the skyscraper offers valuable alternatives to sprawl. Furthermore it expresses the potential to reproduce the earth and create other worlds.
“if we cleverly reorganize life skyward in the Taichung Gateway Park it is possible to produce a building that is at once a landmark for Taiwan’s economic miracle [..] and a sign for emerging new open democracy.”
Unfortunately this potential is seldomly explored. Most skyscrapers are just an endless repetiion of floors without added significance either inside or out. But if we cleverly reorganize life skyward in the Taichung Gateway Park it is possible to produce a building that is at once a landmark for Taiwan’s economic miracle, an icon for five thousand years of civilisation, a gatekeeper of new green city space, a showcase for innovative skyscraper design and a sign for emerging new open democracy. In doing so we are finally in position to explore the true potential of the skyscraper in an ever densifying urban fabric.
The result is Open Core, a design for a skyscraper and a vast urban park that combines the exterior qualities of the omni attractive circular tower with unexpected inner beauty of green circular platforms.
Location: Taichung, Taiwan
Program: 225.000m2 of museum, library, hotel, spa, restaurant, offices, apartments
Year: 2010
Commissioner: Competition
Design Directors: Eric Frijters, Olv Klijn
Team: Marie Rannou, Greta Mozzachiodi, Pieter van Roermund, Raúl Benitez Molina
