Infinity Ground : Thailand and Taiwan Contemporary Architecture

Sparkling Market
The Fish market at Nanliao Fishing Harbor,
Hsinchu brings together a myriad of functions
including fish market, restaurants, outdoor
stalls and ancillary services. The new building
takes a different approach from the existing
14-meter high, two-story edifice to be replaced.
Rather than packing all the functions into one
single colossal mass, the concept here is to
disperse functional volumes, scale back the
building height to 7 meters, and create open
spaces in-between that entertain visual experience
at varying scales, animated pedestrian
flow and opportunities for happenings. The
volumes are unified with a horizontal extension
in the form of a sprawling canopy and windsheltering
walls, resulting in a composition that,
while being attentive to the existing harbor
landscape, protects its users against the harsh
climatic conditions along Hsinchu’s coast
featuring scorching heat in the summer and
gusty northeasterly monsoons in the winter
along.
Sparkling Market falls under Phase One of
the Fish Market Project. The N-shaped layout
carves out open spaces that unfold along the
long and narrow site toward the adjacent road,
fishing harbor, and kite field. Vertical walls with
arched profiles erected from CLT (cross-laminated
timber) and shaped steel components
are capped with a giant undulating SRC
(steel-reinforced concrete) canopy formed
by geometric modular units. The horizontality
of the wavy roof with homogenous variation
is interrupted at 45-degree angles to form
interesting eave lines that metamorphose
with the sight angle. The arched walls skewed
at 45-degree angles work together with the
sliced canopy to shape a market space that
features mesmerizing curves, fluid insideoutside
relationships, and seasonal chiaroscuro.
The building and landscaping utilize straightforward
and weatherproof materials like
concrete, glued laminated timber, weatherproof
steel, stainless steel, and compressed
concrete paving. The enormous structure is
imbued with a curious contrast of airiness that
is abstract and dematerialized, credited to
the homogenous material use deployed over
large areas of the SRC canopy, CLT walls, and
mosaic paving, as well as deliberately minimalistic
detailing. Low-profile, homogeneous
and linear stalls under the great canopy,
thoroughly integrated and exposed utility lines
and equipment, and the mechanical visual
lexicon comprising singular use of stainless
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