Break the law. Push the boundaries. Be attentive.
I discovered this building in the best way possible- by accident. Driving by on the way to visit my grandmother in New Taipei City, it caught the corner of my eye and since so close to our hotel, I knew by a 2 second glance and a lot of intuition that I needed to visit.
Being New Year’s Day, I wasn’t sure if it would be closed. Not only was it closed, but it was also heavily unguarded. It was a little risk clearly worth taking to get a peak from a higher angle (aka jumped a locked gate).
The pattern from the roof of the library extending into the ground scape is yet another coin in the bank on recent theme of flooring, but what caught me with a spark of joy was these emergency paths to exit the library. This library is surrounded by a shallow moat creating a very zen like experience with the stones in the water, as if to elevate the contemplation of the space.
I can only imagine how active and lively this campus building must be during it’s regular use but in the silence of the holiday, I found myself energized and exhilarated nonetheless (law breaking will do that). I would definitely put this on the Taipei architecture to visit list (forget Taipei 101).
Address: No. 1號, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Website: Architectural Record write-up
ofallthespaces 