Oyler Wu Collaborative Selected to Design National Taiwan Museum of Comics

Oyler Wu Collaborative, in partnership with SU mao ping Architecture Studio and JN Architects, won the international competition to design the National Taiwan Museum of Comics in Taichung. The project serves as the central element of a comic cultural campus initiated by a national mandate in 2017. The design team integrates historical archival requirements with modern spaces for the global comic industry.

The site occupies a park containing a cluster of historical buildings. The architects designed the architecture to function as a seamless extension of the city. A porous ground floor dissolves the boundary between the institution and the public realm. This strategy invites access from all directions to encourage civic vitality and movement across the site.

Material systems and graphic facade strategies

The building envelope balances contemporary aesthetics with the scale of existing site structures. Small-scale louvers serve as environmental screens and provide rhythmic architectural elements across the facade. In addition, a secondary layer of fritted glass features embedded comic-inspired graphics. This skin manages natural light and provides varying visual readings based on the viewer’s distance from the building.

The design team plans to collaborate with museum curators on the graphic evolution of the building. Dedicated zones will host rotating vinyl graphics to highlight specific exhibitions. These elements celebrate the work of contemporary comic artists directly on the building surface. The facade thus functions as an active participant in the museum’s cultural programming.

Interior organization and circulation logic

The building’s internal organization prioritizes public engagement and clear circulation. Temporary exhibitions occupy the lower floors for easy access. Permanent exhibitions and an auditorium sit above these levels. The upper floors house educational spaces, a grand library of comics, and administrative offices. This vertical arrangement optimizes the 203,000-square-foot construction program.

A central public common serves as the primary orienting space for the museum. Light wells penetrate the structure to bring natural illumination deep into the interior. This central space remains open across all floors, including the ground level. The team designed this area as a flexible environment to accommodate community activities and provide a sense of openness within the institution.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The National Taiwan Museum of Comics demonstrates a sophisticated approach to institutional porosity. By dissolving the ground-floor boundary, the design transforms a traditional museum archive into an active urban node. The facade strategy moves beyond mere ornament; it creates a functional interface between the building and its specialized content. The integration of fritted glass and louvers addresses environmental performance while establishing a clear visual identity. This project successfully negotiates the scale of historical site context with the requirements of a modern cultural campus. The vertical program distribution ensures that high-traffic public zones remain accessible, reinforcing the museum’s role as a civic resource within Taichung’s urban fabric.