One of the 2017 Best Design winners in the Spatial Design category of Taiwan’s Golden Pin Award, the Xiafu Activity Centre by IMO Creations turns a grey, coal-fueled town into a vibrant attraction.
January 5th, 2018
On the northeast coast of Taiwan, about one-hour drive from downtown Taipei, the small community of Xiafu is landmarked by Linkou Power Plant and Hongfu Gong Temple. While the ever-expanding coal-fired power station provides employment to the residents of Xiafu, the temple is just as important.
In Taiwan, temples are more than simply a place of worship; they are colourful, ornate, cultural centres, where annual events feature exploding firecrackers, lion dances, processions of walking gods, and even pole dancers on pickup trucks.
The New Taipei City government commissioned IMO Creations, an architecture and design studio with offices in Barcelona, Kyoto and Taipei, to design a playful community centre for Xiafu’s Hongfu Gong Temple community. Xiafu Activity Centre reimagines 26 individual colours from the ornate temple roof, as 160 vertical pillars, whose vibrancy leap out from the building’s grey, industrial surroundings.
Partner Architect at IMO Creations and project leader for Xiafu Activity Center, Lain Satrustegui says adapting from local culture, local conditions, and local ways of thinking, was key to the success of the project. “In the temple roof we have all these colours, but they’re very far away and very difficult for people to experience, so we actually recreated this color selection to be experienced by people,” explains Satrustegui.
The objective was simply to construct a building beside the temple where the local community could gather for events, celebrations, and festivals, but IMO’s design concept had an unprecedented effect. Since it was unveiled in July 2017, Xiafu Activity Center has become an iconoclastic landmark that attracts people from far beyond the local area. Most surprising is the age group of visitors, making the pilgrimage to snap selfies for Instagram.
Xiafu Activity Center won the 2017 Best Design award of the ‘Spatial Design’ category from Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award, an international competition focused on design for huaren (Chinese-speaking) communities, confirming that the project attained its goal of connecting with the local community.
“For me, this project stands out because there is a playful element to it. People come in and want to interact with the building, which isn’t something that you would see from the other activity centre they had before. People did interact with that one, but this one is in a playful way where they feel connected to it somehow,” Satrustegui concludes.
View the result of the Golden Pin Award 2017 here.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
An outstanding line-up of participants will contribute to a beautifully curated exhibition in Thailand that delves deep into the collective thinking of architecture in our region and helps set a progressive agenda for the future of design.
As one of the many entries to The Social Space category at the 2024 INDE.Awards, this community centre is something out of the ordinary through its architectural design, that also provides a place for community and connection for many.