Infinity Ground : Thailand and Taiwan Contemporary Architecture

Pingtung
Public Library
This is an extension and renovation project of
an existing cultural center built in 1983, located
in the middle of the Millennium Park of Pingtung
City. The main objective of transformation is
to introduce transparency and accessibility to
the once hermetic building and disoriented
landscaping.
At urban scale, a transparent new lobby is
proposed and attached to the western side of
the existing building. It turns the architectural
axis and approach 90 degree in order to make
the library face the city directly. Instead of going
through series of formal boulevard and plaza,
the new approach guides visitors wandering
through the forest and arcades before entering
the library. Therefore, the architecture can be
more attuned to the physical and psychological
conditions of contemporary library readers.
The new lobby is a parallelogram plan and supported
by continuous V-shaped steel structure.
Several “activity Islands” are arranged, including
a sunken seating area, a floating mezzanine,
and a pair of suspended lanterns. The expanded
glass curtain walls link the interior to the exterior,
showing the activities of the library to the city
and vice versa.
At architectural scale, by transforming the original
entrance lobby into a wooden readingroom and
three levels of compact book storage into a bright
multi-functional atrium, the originally fragmented
and congested building becomes fluid and
identifiable. Two distinct stairs, one spiral and
one stair-seating, complete the reader’s circulation
while providing various seating types and
opportunities along the journey. Taking advantage
of the surrounding park views, open floor plan
and natural materiality, the library programing
and furniture deployments can achieve individuality,
flexibility and a sense of intimacy which
are important characters of contemporary
libraries.
The exterior of the original structure is remodeled
by cladding white aluminum panels and louvers.
An arcade is extended from the original entrance
to function as an in-between space between the
reading room and the lawn, which was tranformed
from the depleted entrance plaza. The new landscape
design connects the library seamlessly to
its surrounding park and therefore invites more
citizens to use this new public space regardless
of their purposes.
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