Deep in the city center of Tainan, Taiwan, there used to be a shopping mall. After going unused for years, it looked like something you might see on a post-apocalyptic television show — an abandoned industrial building overtaken by Mother Nature’s green blanket as she reclaims her touch on the planet. In 2020, the Dutch architecture studio, MVRDV, reconnected Tainan’s urban landscape with the nature that surrounds it by designing Tainan Spring.
Once known as the China-Town Mall, the building had flooded and dwindled from public use after the boom of online shopping. “It has become a drain on the vitality of downtown Tainan,” say the architects. “Tainan Spring shows what solutions are possible for unused shopping malls now that online shopping is supplanting physical stores.”
A significant part of Taiwan’s history is wrapped into this project, making the success of Tainan Spring especially meaningful to the city and its residents. “China-Town Mall was built on top of the old harbor next to the Tainan Canal in 1983,” shares the architecture studio. When they followed through with the project, the studio chose to honor the history of the area.
“The foundations of the former mall stick out of the park and lagoon like a contemporary Roman Forum, offering a visual marker of the historical decision to close a port in favor of a mall.”
With the lagoon embedded in the former underground parking lot, the public space opens wide and runs toward the city’s waterfront, which had previously been blocked from view by the shopping mall.
Even with the unobstructed view, MVRDV chose not to ignore the history of this part of downtown Tainan, but rather to closely tie it to the urban lagoon oasis that is there today. Large pillars and other foundational pieces from the structure of the mall remain critical to the experience of the Tainan Spring, as they are covered with plants and help to form playgrounds, gathering spaces and arcades.
MVRDV also chose to use native plants in the space, intending to cultivate a lush greenery that would mimic a jungle of vegetation similar to the eastern side of Taiwan. In choosing to meticulously recycle parts of the old China-Town Mall, the space is not only a sustainable part of Taiwan’s old capital but also an example of the city’s circular economy. The park serves as a reintegration to the landscape.
“In Tainan Spring, people can bathe in the overgrown remains of a shopping mall,” says Winy Maas, a founding partner of MVRDV. “Children will soon be swimming in the ruins of the past — how fantastic is that?”
This article first appeared in the October 2024 issue of AQUA Magazine — the top resource for retailers, builders and service pros in the pool and spa industry. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to all industry professionals. Click here to subscribe.
