Re-envisioning the Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park

Occupying a 3.3-hectare site in the center of Hualien, the HCCIP is one of five such creative industries parks established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. A former wine distillery, the complex was converted into a cultural park by 2011 and became fully open by 2015. The large complex, however, presented several challenges for activation, programming, and management. The complex was predominantly closed for repair and structural reinforcement in recent times. The temporary closure presents an opportunity to reimagine the future of the complex given its strategic location in the city and the broader region. Invited by Urban Intertidal, a firm commissioned to plan for reactivation of the HCCIP, a team of students led by Jeff Hou produced a planning concept that included the following spatial and programming strategies: (1) Maximizing the green: turning the complex into a central park for the city; (2) Unboxing the buildings: turning buildings into open space through partial removal of walls and increased fenestration; (3) Percolating the grounds: increasing pervious surfaces on the site to lower temperature and mitigating the urban heat island effect; (4) Layering the circulation: creating more diverse visitor experiences through elevated movement; and (5) Commonizing the space: providing more opportunities for citizens and citizen group to adopt and appropriate space in the park. August 2020. [Online exhibition] [Team Project]

Project Client: Taiwan Ministry of Culture. Workshop Organizer: Urban Intertidal. Team members: Tai-Si Chang, Zi-Liang Gu, Ching-Yi Wang; Team lead: Jeff Hou