Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

The New Construction Office of the Public Works Department, Taipei City Government, is responsible for managing the “Taipei Fine Arts District - Taipei Fine Arts Museum Expansion Project” for the city's art museum of the Department of Cultural Affairs. A ground breaking ceremony was held on September 30, 2022, by Taipei City Government to pray for the project's success in base. Mayor Ko Wen-Je presided over the ceremony in person and led all project personnel in praying for trouble-free construction and the safety of all workers and machinery.

According to Section Chief Hsiao Chih-Lung from the Public Works Section of New Construction Office, Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) was opened in 1983 and was the first museum of contemporary art in Taiwan. The mission of TFAM was to serve as a research hub for the development of contemporary art in Asia and the Chinese-speaking world. TFAM also positioned itself as the art museum of the national capital and has been a tremendous success in that role. Nevertheless, TFAM spaces and facilities were no longer adequate 38 years after it first opened. A new plan for the capital art museum was therefore developed and proposed by Taipei City Government to build on its past legacy, connect to the future and craft a forward-looking art district. The vision of the plan is to create the best art museum district in Asia.

Director Chen Yu-Ju from the Beitou-Shilin Construction Office of the Public Works Section, New Construction Office, said that the TFAM Expansion project was issued as a package contract. The team made up of Fortune6446 Construction Co., Ltd. and Ricky Liu & Associates Architects was declared as the winning bidder on May 20, 2022, with a total project cost of NTD 4,431,550,000. A new building with 44,576 m2 of floor space will be constructed with 1 ground floor and 2 underground levels. Building spaces will be used for public performances, multimedia storage, educational services, administration, lobby/service, retail, public service and parking, etc. Construction will begin on September 30, 2022, and run for 1,800 calendar days with the completion scheduled for 2027.

Chen added that the project architect chose “imagining the future potential of the art museum” as the inspiration. For a landmark building like TFAM, any expansion must be more than just a construction project but also an exploration of its future potential. Different visual experiences were therefore designed for the art district in the daytime and at night: during the day, the outdoor park is basked natural sunlight. The intersection of buildings, structures and trees create unique play of light and shadows that project onto the underground public spaces of the art museum. At night, the transparent structures that transmitted sunlight to the indoor spaces below are transformed into light boxes that define the visual focus of spatial boundaries. Building coverage ratio was set at 12.45% for the site so that the TFAM expansion is being built as an earth-sheltered building. The new building will consist of green park lands on the surface where members of the general public can wander about and relax at will. The underground spaces will be used for pioneering performances and exhibitions on crossover, contemporary experimental and new media arts. It will provide the general public with a more natural and relaxed way to experience art and create a contemporary art museum that emphasizes “accessibility.”