The architectural firm that had been selected to design the National Palace Museum’s Southern Branch has withdrawn from the project.
Antoine Predock Architect PC said on Tuesday that it was quitting the design project with immediate effect and billed the museum headquarters in Taipei for NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) in compensation for losses incurred.
The firm had been selected by a competition jury four years ago from a field of six finalists to design the museum in Chiayi County.
Chiayi County officials in charge of cultural affairs said the firm’s unilateral decision to pull out may have been the result of a failure to reach an accommodation with the museum over serious construction delays, design methods and the quality of building materials.
The officials said that if the museum had agreed to the firm’s demands, it would have led to a 30 percent increase in construction costs.
The project could still proceed despite the firm’s withdrawal if the museum were to reopen international bidding for the design and the budget is approved, the officials said.
“The southern branch could still be built by 2011 as scheduled if the construction budget is passed by the Legislative Yuan in time,” they said.
The Executive Yuan approved the construction of the southern branch in 2003, estimating that the branch museum would be built on a 70 hectare site with a total budget of approximately NT$6 billion.
The budget for clearing the land, which included digging an artificial lake, planting trees and installing irrigation and water-drainage systems, is NT$450 million.
The project had been scheduled to be around 20 percent complete by Jan. 7, though the actual completion figure was listed as 11.9 percent. The government has also not approved the project’s annual budget allocation since 2003.
The 60m-tall building was to have been built in the shape of Yushan, and would have been visible to passengers on the high-speed railway.
Explaining the design concept in 2004, Antoine Predock said: “Our proposal brings into focus a synthesizing concept of the intimate, varied pan-Asian universe that the National Palace Museum Southern Branch intends to illuminate: ‘The need to know ourselves and other Asian regions as well.’”
“Like Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s 2001 production Cursive, visitors move through space and atmosphere, ‘imitating the linear route of ink, full of lyrical flows and strong punctions, with rich variations in energy,’” he said.
Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) gave an assurance earlier this year that the branch would open on schedule in 2011, despite serious construction delays.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS