Designed by Kris Yao | Artech Architects, the Lanyang Museum is adjacent to the Wushih Port, a once prosperous harbor that is now a wetland. Located in Yilan County, Taiwan, the museum is designed to reflect the unique history, the culture, and the landscape in Lanyang. In addition to reconstructing the harbor’s history, the museum also introduces Yilan’s rich wetland ecology as a part of an outdoor exhibition. The volume’s dominant geometry is inspired by the natural Cuesta rock formation, commonly found on the coast.Taking forms from the cuesta rock formation in and around the site, the museum spaces shift in and out of the “rock”. By inserting the triangular mass into the ground at an angle, the minimalist architectural geometry mimics the nearby terrain. The building consists of interlacing solid and glass volumes, where the solid volume is reserved for exhibition and administrative spaces and the glass volume serves as the main lobby and the restaurant area. A range of granite and cast aluminum panels are used on the building’s exterior to represent the reef’s natural erosion process while incorporating the image of seasonal changes over the Lang Yang plain. These panels of varied textures and sizes translate the musical notes and the rhythmic tempos. The music we choose to represent is Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concerto.
