Lanyang Museum / Artech Architects

© Jeffrey Cheng

Architect: Kris Yao | Artech Architects
Location: Yilan County,
Clients: Yilan County Government
Design Team: Glen Lu, Hua-Yi Chang, Fei-Chun Ying, Chih-Hao Chiang, Shun-Hui Chen, Tien-Kai Yang, Chii-Chang Jong, Christina Tseng, Lei Wang, Nina Yu, Jun-Ren Chou, Tien-Yu Lo
Site Area: 39,426 sqm
Total Floor Area: 12,472.74 sqm
Completion: March 2010
Photographs: Jeffrey Cheng, Chi-Yi Chang 

   

© Jeffrey Cheng

Taking forms from the cuesta rock formation in and around the site, the museum spaces shift in and out of the “rock”.

This museum is adjacent to the Wushih Port, a once prosperous harbor that is now a wetland. The museum is designed to reflect the unique history, the culture, and the landscape in Lanyang. In addition to reconstructing the harbor’s history, the museum also introduces Yilan’s rich wetland ecology as a part of an outdoor exhibition.

© Jeffrey Cheng

The volume’s dominant geometry is inspired by the natural Cuesta rock formation, commonly found on the coast. By inserting the triangular mass into the ground at an angle, the minimalist architectural geometry mimics the nearby terrain. The building consists of interlacing solid and glass volumes, where the solid volume is reserved for exhibition and administrative spaces and the glass volume serves as the main lobby and the restaurant area.

section

The gaps between the volumes provide natural lighting and divisions between different functional spaces. The view of the Guishan Island (Turtle Mountain Island) at a distance acts as a constant reference point for visitors, as they experience the alternating inside/outside, solid/void journey through the museum.

A range of granite and cast aluminum panels are used on the building’s exterior to represent the reef’s natural erosion process while incorporating the image of seasonal changes over the Lang Yang plain. These panels of varied textures and sizes translate the musical notes and the rhythmic tempos. The music we choose to represent is Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concerto.

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
Cite: "Lanyang Museum / Artech Architects" 12 Apr 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 23 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/224953>

15 comments

  2. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Its like an ancient being clawing its way out of the earth. Beautiful, I love it…

    Reply
      • Thumb up Thumb down -1

        What a museum should be like? This project mess with peoples heads before they enter and while inside the building. That is great because you are about to experience an entirely different type of construction and museum displays. At MALBA, modern art museum of Buenos Aires, there is a totem right in front of it, on the sidewalk. When i went there people where jumping and screaming at that totem wich had a scale of lights that interact with these activities. Everybody’s mood was transformed before entering the museum. The objective is not just how the building would look like when done, but how people would interact inside and out of it. Great museum!

    • Thumb up Thumb down +11

      Do you think its a good building?

      Reply
  9. Thumb up Thumb down +5

    I hate it. Gives me a headache.

    Reply
    • Thumb up Thumb down +5

      glad to know its not just me

      Reply

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