Daily Dose 1390

MVRDV

Daily Dose Selected Monographic Images 1390 | MVRDV - Tainan Spring "The origins of the site itself can be traced back hundreds of years. In the 17th century, the abutting Tainan Canal extended inland, and the area was home to a prominent shipping port. By the 1960s, a portion of the harbor was closed and, in 1983, developers built the multilevel China-Town Mall, which included retail, housing, and entertainment. The partially subterranean complex was once a popular destination for locals, but its novelty waned as it deteriorated and became crime infested. The site was neglected until five years ago, when the Urban Development Bureau of the Tainan City Government commissioned MVRDV—as the winners of an international landscape competition—to redesign the five-acre area as an outdoor plaza and transform a stretch of Haian Road, which runs perpendicular to it. After demolishing most of the mall’s structure, the team resurfaced the floors of the underground parking level with terrazzo and added water and foliage to create two “urban lagoons” which are open to the public for wading and relaxing year-round in the tropical heat." Kara Mavros Via AR.