If you are flying either into or departing from Taiwan after the year 2020, you may wish to arrange your flight so that you either arrive or leave in the evening, as it could well be an unforgettable experience. The winning design by Rogers Stirk Harbour of London for the new Terminal 3 promises an illuminating show that can match that of Curt Fentress’s Denver airport. As an international open competition, and for a project of this magnitude, it was astonishing to find that only four international firms decided to enter this contest. According to one juror, the posting of a $500,000 bond required of serious contenders was probably enough to scare off most firms. This is not to say that the final four lacked expertise in the area. The only firm from Stage 1 not shortlisted, ADPI of Paris, had numerous completed large commissions to its credit. And due to the very extensive experience of the other firms, it could be anticipated that the quality of the entries would be more than adequate. The vision of the Taiwan Airport Authority for the future of the facility was ambitious: “The objectives of Taiwan Taoyuan Internation Airport are to become a large-scale hub airport, serving the aviation market in East Asia. The Multi-Funtional Buildings will link Terminal 3 an existing Terminal 2 to for a Mega-Terminal. The main design concepts for this project are ‘Smart, Green and Culture.’ With a high efficient operating system to provide high quality passenger services and transportation functions, the project will be developed as a sustainable and intelligent airport, with comprehensive facilities encompassing functions in tourism, shopping, culture and arts to create new traveling experiences.” Finally, the client was looking for three essentials: • Accommodate growth • Improve Service Levels • To maintain and strengthen the competitive position of the airport and to develop at the airport the commercial and cultural centre of the Aerotropolis. To adjudicate the selection process, the following jury was empaneled: • Chu-Joe Hsia, MArch, Ph.D, Jury Chair (Taiwan), Architect • Marcos Cruz, MArch, Ph.D, (U.K.), Architect • Jerry Dann (Taiwan), Senior VP, Taoyuan International Airport • Kwang-Yu King (Taiwan), Architect • Erik Kriel (South Africa), Airport Engineer • Shannon Hsien-Heng Lee (Taiwan), Civil Engineer
During this final phase. the group was led by Richard Rogers, he himself of course, an excellent airport architect. He leads an amazing consulting company, as well as an airport management company. Also, Taiwan’s own consulting company and airport management company formed part of this group. They had cutting edge innovation and they were capable of presenting buildable ideas. Not only did they challenge the consultant’s architectural structure manual, they focused on arrival and departure floor plans. They let the travelers have the opportunity to see each other. Then, they came up with the whole environmental issue. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s three phases of construction were combined together. Also, when it was in the second phase, they challenged their team’s structural ideas from phase one. They completely abandoned the flat roof idea. During the last two months of this phase, they developed a completely different exterior design with curved lines, not only to prevent water leaking and provide a good drainage system, but also to offer an excellent lighting design through the curves of the roof. The interior design combined ten thousand “flowers,” which adjust the perspective of the viewer according to inside activities—the experience of the users—to form the up and down movement of the angles and spaces. I feel this design is very moving and touching. The international advancement is just the beginning. Addressing Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s three-stage phasing depends on the government’s strong determination and will—to make it a reality! Thank you! -Translation by Winnie Tomeny
Winner CECI Engineering Consultants, Taiwan with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, London OveArup and Partners, Hong Kong Fei & Cheng Associates, Taiwan
Finalist Van Berkel en Bos U.N. Studio, Rotterdam April Yang Design Studio, Ltd. , Los Angeles Bio-Architecture Formosana Taiwan Taiwan Engineering Consultants-Group, Taiwan
Finalist Foster + Partners Limited, London Ricky Liu & Associates, Taiwan MAA Group Consulting Engineers, Taiwan
Book Review
Young Architects in Competitions
When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality
by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020 271 illustrations in color and black & white Available in PDF and eBook formats ISBN 9781988962047
What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset?
This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions.
Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link:
If one were to search for a railway museum in the U.K., London would seem to be an obvious choice. But, as it happens, its location is in the northeastern city of York, far from the major cultural and economic centers of the country. But despite its distance from the major metropolitan areas to the south and west, York has managed to become the focal point of research into the history of rail in the U.K., supplemented by a major museum. Here we are not just talking about some posters, but sheds replete with a large collection of vintage trains.
Foundation non-profits are no strangers to good architecture. Ford Foundation’s forward-looking headquarters in New York City by Roche Dinkeloo was an early example of a non-profit using architecture as a vehicle for serving to brand it as a progressive institution. In 2001 the California Endowment went one step further, staging an invited competition for their new headquarters in Los Angeles.
Master plans have been around for ages; but master plans for very large cities with all their support systems are relatively new. Milton Keynes (MK), located in Buckinghamshire in southern England, and begun in the late 1960s, is one of the most successful of the new cities, now having a population of almost 250,000. Its success lies mainly on the lessons learned from the establishment of the planning which generated the new towns in the U.K. during the 1940s and 50s, many of which have not fared well in the test of time. MK’s success was based primarily on the careful separation of high density from residential where the influence of the “garden city” could be seen. Here the idea of a live/work environment was even incorporated.
The updating and modernization of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport has been well overdue. Aside from occasional problems caused by Chicago’s winter storms, congestion at the airport has led air travelers to avoid the airport when catching a connecting flight is on the agenda. So Chicago, noted for its modern architecture and the home of several high-profile architecture firms, decided to turn to an invited competition for a solution to these issues.
Competitions in Chicago in the recent past have been anything but encouraging, especially when transparency is an issue. During the competition for the Obama Center on the South Side, the Obama Foundation, which was responsible for the administration of that “competition,” was anything but a model of transparency; and to this day, none of the finalist designs, other than that of the winner, have seen the light of day. In the case of the O’Hare project, videos submitted by the five finalists teams were on public display, and the public was even asked to vote for their favorite.
In these times when political emotions run high and gun violence is the norm, not the exception; and when emotions no longer are held in check, but encouraged by our leaders, minorities become easy targets for those who adhere to ideologies based primarily on exclusivity and hate.
The LGBT community has long been the target of various segments of our society; but the massacre that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a favorite hangout for gays, elevated this phenomenon to a new level. After an event that claimed the lives of 49 victims, injured 68 others, and left hundreds permanently traumatized, it should come as no surprise that a memorial to this tragedy has been front and center in the minds of the community ever since. Because the very nature of this event has drawn nationwide attention, the community wanted to get it right. So it was only logical that they would turn to a competition as the most viable vehicle for arriving at a solution for the design of a memorial, as well as a museum. For this, the onePULSE Foundation was formed, to memorialize this tragedy and “ensure that Pulse”s legacy of love, acceptance and hope will never be lost.”
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