Tainan Spring

TAINAN SPRING / MVRDV

This project unveiled in late 2020 is of major interest. Realised by MVRDV, it was first set up by the Urban Development Bureau of Tainan City Government. Several factors make this new urban spaces a major reference.

Firstly, the urban context of the realisation is pretty similar to what most Western European city could face nowadays. The previous function of this mall building structure was not used anymore and therefore needed a reassignment. The decision was made to disassemble the building and make a romantic ruin with a more publicoriented function, a park. The mall equipments and structures were recycled and reintroduced back into the economy via exemplar circular processes.

The idea to keep the structure was not only cheaper and more environmentally friendly but a good way to maintain the history of the ancient mall. This also gives a particular industrial and urban vibe in this new way of building urban parks.

The new function, a public park accompanied with a really innovative water feature was imagined to reconnect the citizens with nature and waterscape of their city. Not only greeneries were brought back in this derelict space of the city centre but also social interactions. This was made possible by creating this urban beach where the capitalist leisure function of the mall was transformed into a more common, public, noncommercial park function.

The landscaping of the water basin and the ‘beach’ around make it is easy for people to appropriate. The fact that it is situated one level under the city street, makes it a protected pocket while still allowing people to overlook it.