From 100M above Jiancheng Circle in Taipei’s Datong District (大同), one would have a clear view of the Tamsui River — the mother that gave birth to Taipei — as it cuts northwest through to Guandu (關渡) plain in Beitou District (北投) and from there flows into the sea.
A straight line runs from the midpoint of the Tamsui River Bridge through Jiancheng Circle to Taipei Railway Station.
Looking into the distance toward the southwest, one can see where the New Taipei Expressway crosses the Dahan River, which has both eroded and silted up the Taipei Basin, causing it to shift and change over tens of thousands of years.
The Jiancheng Circle similarly bears witness to the historical context in which Taipei was born, grew, flourished and matured. The imprint of different stages of the city’s development can be seen here.
The traffic circle is the first gateway seen when exiting the Taipei Interchange and entering the city. Beyond this gateway — and connected to it — is the heart of present-day Taipei — the area around Taipei Railway Station.
All these attributes make the Jiancheng Circle the most suitable and practical place to build a “Taipei tower.”
The glass-clad building in the middle of the circle is being demolished and the circle is to be made into a green space. After the above-ground structures have been removed, the pond that lies underground — built in 1943 as a reservoir for firefighting and listed by the city government as a historic monument — will see the light of day once more.
The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has announced what it calls “two great alternative plans” for the pond. One is to cover it with a glass canopy, the other is to leave it uncovered, but install a railing around it.
This so-called choice may be fun, in the sense that playing with a doll’s house is amusing, but it is really just two versions of a single muddle-headed design that involves setting the space aside without creating anything new.
Some Bureau of Cultural Heritage members have suggested digging down to create a green space so that people can walk around the pond, but this is still a narrow-minded idea.
Urban designers have not been included in the discussion, nor have tourism and leisure professionals. Their absence, combined with the barren vision of the city government, is the real nub of the city’s problems.
The Jiancheng Circle occupies an area of about 1,735m2 in the bustling Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area. Since it was built at a relatively early stage in the city’s development, it is a place where historical traces of Japanese colonial rule, World War II, the immediate postwar years and Taipei’s subsequent growth can all be found.
Numerous towers have been built around the world that contribute to rich and diverse urban landscapes, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1889), Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower (1994), Guangzhou’s Canton Tower (2010) and the Tokyo Skytree (2012). This context simply serves to highlight the exceptional dormancy and rigidity of Taiwan’s urban scenery.
Hsu Cheng-wang is an assistant professor at Shu-Te University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Interior Design.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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