Navigating the recently inaugurated Taichung Art Museum in central Taiwan feels like engaging with a living sculpture. The brainchild of the celebrated Japanese architecture firm Sanaa, the campus unites eight deliberately askew buildings that seamlessly merge an art museum with a public library. Clad with shimmering, mesh-like silver walls, the interior boasts dramatically high roofs and curving walkways.
Beyond the breezy lobby—a space that blurs boundaries—visitors amble along paths and ramps, finding themselves in a library one moment and a top-tier art exhibition the next. A entry might open up to a elevated walkway suspended above a rooftop garden, revealing sweeping panoramas of Taichung’s Central Park, or into a snug teenage reading nook. Staircases appear to float on building exteriors, and floor levels are deliberately disparate, complementing each space’s unique purpose and vibe rather than adhering to a rigid, uniform layout.
“It is ‘easy to get lost in’,” observes Lan Yu-hua, an associate researcher at the museum, with a laugh. But she maintains that’s part of the intended experience: “We say that losing your way is positive.”
This civic undertaking stands as the newest in a string of ambitiously designed museums and performance venues established across Taiwan over the past two decades.
A Visionary Collaboration
Led by 2010 Pritzker Prize laureates Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa—the duo behind the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the Sydney Modern gallery—Sanaa collaborated with the Taiwanese firm Ricky Liu & Associates Architects+Planners on the multi-year build. The Taichung city government’s simple directive was for an art museum and a library on a single site.
The final result has dissolved the borders between the two institutions. The design encourages visitors to slow down, imagining a day spent reading or working in the library, interspersed with leisurely walks through exhibition rooms.
“We are truly delighted that we are with the library under one roof, because I think that can truly attract another layer of audiences for us,” states Yi-Hsin Lai, the museum’s director.
Launch Shows with International Flair
The museum’s opening program feature specially created pieces by acclaimed South Korean artist Haegue Yang and Taiwanese artist Michael Lin. Yang’s large-scale installation offers an abstract interpretation on the banyan trees and fireflies common to Taiwan and Korea. Dangling in the 27-meter-high central atrium, it incorporates her signature venetian blinds with lights and steel frames. At night, the luminous emission from her work shines through the exterior mesh from a kilometer away.
The larger opening exhibition, titled A Call of All Beings, is an eclectic but coherent mix of new installations and recent acquisitions by artists from 20 countries. Organized by an international team, it juxtaposes master painters from mid-20th century Taiwan alongside postmodern video works. In a impressive feat, the curators also secured original early sketches from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince and archival photographs of Helen Keller.
The exhibition highlights Taiwanese artists, especially those from Taichung. There is also a particular effort on including artists with disabilities—a poignant initiative.
Boosting the Island’s Artistic Stature
For Taiwan’s art sector, this new museum represents a major chance to raise Taiwan’s presence in the global art scene and further “decentralize” cultural focus from the capital, Taipei. Taichung, the island’s biggest metropolitan area outside Taipei, is a short, easy trip from Taipei and already hosts a respected Museum of Fine Arts and a burgeoning sector of private galleries. However, it has had difficulty to attract international art tourists.
“It’s quite active and flourishing now. We hope that in a few years Taichung can be an artistic landmark Asian city,” expresses Director Lai.
Claudia Chen, chair of a major Taiwanese art association, describes the new museum as a potential “gamechanger” for the country, “redirecting attention from the north to south.”
“While Taichung and southern Taiwan have had many arts and cultural events in the past, none have reached the prestige and impact of Taipei,” Chen notes.
Another arts foundation executive, Jenny Yeh, remarks that Sanaa’s involvement has attracted worldwide notice and accelerated Taiwan’s existing artistic momentum. “This will motivate more international visitors to explore beyond Taipei and develop a more complete understanding of Taiwan’s cultural landscape. Overall, it will be a major boost to Taiwan’s visibility on the global stage.”
The museum officially opens its doors in mid-December, preparing for a overwhelmingly domestic audience, at least initially, alongside visiting international press and museum professionals.