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- Architects: ML Architect
- Location: Kaohsiung,Taiwan
- Lead Architects: Chih-Feng Lin
- Collaborators: Bai Guo Metal Engineering Co.,Ltd., Taie Building materials Co.,Ltd.
- Curator At Kaohsiung Museum Of Fine Arts: Tseng Fangling
- Area: 770.0 m2
- Project Year: 2017
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Text description provided by the architects. The biennale-style Kaohsiung International Container Art Festival has now been held eight times since its inception in 2001. With changing times and spaces, Kaohsiung has transformed itself from the harbor industrial city it was to a historic and cultural ocean metropolis. Within Kaohsiung, the container-a signifier of port culture -is no longer merely a carrier of goods and a linkage in commercial trade networks, but has been molded into an important symbol of the culture and history of Kaohsiung City.
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In 2017, Kaohsiung International Container Art Festival exhibits all container display at the Pier-2 Art Center next to Kaohsiung Port. Implemented by Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. The topic is about creativity of container art and Shinenior (Shiny-senior) event.
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Plan
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According to this concept, our team are thinking about two things that we can’t resist in our lives which are gravity and time. Moreover, we use container to show different perspectives in life. In one of container exhibition that metaphorically shows its foothold is standing on the ground to against gravity as our lives can’t always resist aging because of time and gravity. A major section is selected to show age difference of life that presents expectation of “creating space → leading mood → making emotion → metaphor of certain state and memory in life”, bringing awareness, emotion, time difference and memory through the architectural space. The installation titled ‘Runway of Life’ is arranged in five consecutive stages of life.
Section
Toddler/balance
This is the period of learning how to balancing and standing. We create different facilities such as ladder, game net, slide to experience those dynamic activities in the container’s space. When walking on the net, it falls down easily without a solid foothold as we try to learn how to walk in toddler age. Therefore, by using these sensory experiences to create feelings that lead us back to a certain stage in our lives.
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Childhood/peek
The period in this age is always having full curiosity to explore things, interest, and future. Moreover, the most fun part is that we create a kaleidoscope on the container to watch different lights colors change randomly through the peephole.
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Adolescent/activity
Youth is the age experiencing diversities of learning, communicating with people, and getting involved in our society. Therefore, we have planned clothing exhibition and leisure activities in this area to attract more different-age people visiting. On the other hand, using recycling container that it’s an environmental concept to appeal people the importance of recycling, so we invited “Spring Pool Glass” organization to display by using recycled glass to recreate glass sand as “Silver Horizon” new life in response to renewable resources and the theme of this year’s Container Arts Festival.
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Midlife/lookout and solitude
We set up an observatory on the upper part of one tilted shipping container that appears physical strength, career and vision of midlife. The container in order to look alone through the ladder to reach an independent support of the small platform, and enabling people to stand alone in this ascendency. The other support tilted container is quiet space which uses container to create an empty body with a small space to limit people entering. It shows a contraction in the space to correspond reality, so that people can be isolated from the outside world to stare the sky, feel calmness, and meditate alone from this light space.
Section
Senior/stare
As Evergreen age, people tend to have more developments of spiritual aspect and focus on steady nature from their inner state. We cutting through the container body to bend itself which creates the opening part to guide people can see a bright vision from the sky, and watching the internal exhibition that brings inner peace, thought, and feeling.
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We hope to make full use of the container itself in many ways such as cutting, bending, and twisting opening part which create a light- transmissive space that allows the light to penetrate into the cabinet itself. Containers are converted into special spaces with special sensory atmosphere that brings different insight-view and life experience.
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