SANAA’s Interlocking Volumes: Taichung Green Museum Blurs Boundaries Between Art, Literature, and Nature

A Cultural Landmark Emerges in Taichung
Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning firm SANAA in collaboration with local studio Ricky Liu & Associates Architects + Planners, the Taichung Green Museum and Public Library redefines cultural architecture in Taiwan. First unveiled in 2013, the project a hybrid of museum and library nestles within Taichung’s sprawling 67-hectare Central Park, creating a seamless dialogue between built form and landscape. As SANAA’s largest cultural project to date and their first public building in Taiwan, it exemplifies their signature ethos of lightness, transparency, and social permeability.

Eight Volumes, One Fluid Experience

The complex comprises eight interlocking low-rise structures, draped in a dual-layer façade of glass, smooth metal panels, and expanded aluminum mesh. This ethereal outer skin filters sunlight, casting ever-shifting patterns across the interiors while maintaining visual connectivity to the park. Each volume houses distinct functions from art galleries to a digital library arranged horizontally to encourage organic movement. By avoiding rigid partitions, SANAA prioritizes a flexible, communal experience, challenging traditional institutional hierarchies.

Transparency as a Guiding Principle

The museum’s elevated design allows natural light and breezes to flow beneath and through the buildings, while shaded plazas beneath create porous thresholds between architecture and landscape. Multiple entry points invite visitors from all directions, reinforcing the building’s openness. The façade’s interplay of materials softens the exterior, transforming sunlight into a dynamic architectural element a metaphor for the institution’s role as a space for slow contemplation of art, literature, and learning.

A Rooftop Forest and Civic Symbol

Crowning the structure, a publicly accessible rooftop forest extends the park vertically, offering panoramic views of Taichung’s skyline. This green layer underscores the project’s core concept: a “library in a garden” and a “museum in a forest.” Inside, the library curates over 1 million physical and digital resources, while the art museum’s galleries adapt to diverse media from large-scale installations to performance art.

Inaugural Exhibition: Bridging Human and Non-Human Worlds

Opening in December 2025, the museum debuts with the exhibition “A Call to All Beings: See You Tomorrow, Same Time, Same Place” (curated by Yi-Hsin Lai). Featuring site-specific works by Adrien Tirtiaux, Seunghyun Moon, and Joan Jonas, alongside archival pieces from The Little Prince, the show aligns with the building’s ethos by exploring ecological interconnectedness.

SANAA’s Vision: A New Model for Cultural Spaces

As Kazuyo Sejima and Ryuue Nishizawa explain, the design merges visual and literary education into a multifaceted learning environment. The lightweight, interwoven volumes dissolve boundaries between indoors/outdoors, embedding cultural engagement into daily life.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

SANAA’s Taichung Green Museum masterfully blends architecture with landscape, creating a fluid cultural hub that prioritizes accessibility and sensory engagement. The design’s emphasis on openness and light is commendable, though critics might argue that such permeability could compromise functional privacy in certain areas. Nonetheless, the project’s ambition to redefine institutional rigidity as communal flexibility sets a transformative precedent for future cultural spaces proving that architecture can indeed foster both contemplation and connection.

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