Taichung City Government

Taichung’s first-ever complex combining an art museum and a public library—the Taichung Green Museumbrary—held the Architecture Press Preview of Taichung Green Museumbrary on September 23. Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-Yen, together with Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, architects from Japan’s SANAA and laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, attended the event in person to guide the media through the venue for the first time. The unveiling also featured the debut of the museum’s main visual identity, symbolizing a new milestone in Taichung’s cultural development. Built upon the lush foundation of the Central Park, the Green Museumbrary integrates the artistic energy of a museum with the intellectual space of a library, embodying Taichung’s vision of fostering a city where art, reading, and nature coexist in harmony. The facility will hold a trial opening from October 28 to November 16, followed by its grand opening on December 13, inviting residents and international visitors alike to celebrate the birth of Taichung’s newest cultural landmark.

Mayor Lu and SANAA Architects Unveil Taichung’s Newest Cultural Landmark
Located on the north side of the Central Park in the Shuinan Economic and Trade Park, the Taichung Green Museumbrary occupies a total floor area of approximately 58,000 square meters. The building is composed of eight interconnected yet independent volumes, designed around the concepts of openness, transparency, and fluidity to create a public space where art, reading, and nature coexist in harmony.
The design team broke down the structure into multiple volumes that correspond to the surrounding environment’s scale, then wrapped them in silvery-white expanded aluminum mesh, resembling a light, gauzy veil that reflects the park’s lush greenery and the cityscape. The elevated building masses form shaded plazas of varying levels, bringing breezes, sunlight, and greenery into the space. Multiple entrances allow visitors to move freely between the city, the park, and the building itself, shaping a “cultural forest” that warmly welcomes people to explore.
The press preview was jointly hosted by Mayor Lu Shiow-Yen and architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. SANAA is renowned for its elegant and environmentally attuned design language, with an impressive portfolio that includes the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, the Louvre-Lens in France, and the recently completed Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. The Green Museumbrary stands as one of SANAA’s largest cultural architecture projects to date, and notably, its first design to merge an art museum and a library into a single integrated space.
Mayor Lu remarked that the Green Museumbrary is more than a newly completed building—it is a shared cultural space for all residents, embodying Taichung’s aspiration to evolve into a city of culture through the fusion of art and reading. She emphasized that by combining the Central Park, the art museum, and the library, the Green Museumbrary symbolizes Taichung’s commitment to fostering cultural development with nature at its core. The Green Museumbrary, she said, will become an integral part of daily life for Taichung residents and a new icon introducing the city to the world.
Architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa shared their vision of the Green Museumbrary as a structure that responds naturally to Taiwan’s climate, allowing light, wind, and greenery to flow freely throughout—a space where art and knowledge meet spontaneously. They described their design philosophy as one of “openness and integration”, expressing their hope that visitors will discover their own stories within the space, and that the Green Museumbrary will become a beloved public landmark cherished across generations.

First Look at the Green Museumbrary — Flowing Between Light, Shadow, and Knowledge
The preview tour was personally guided by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, beginning in the main lobby of the Green Museumbrary. Upon entering, visitors are greeted by two circular glass structures—one serving as the information counter, and the other leading to the underground public space, one of the building’s signature “integrated spaces” that symbolizes the meeting and exchange between knowledge and art.
A connecting bridge suspended above the lobby offers diverse perspectives of the architectural space. After the official opening, visitors will be able to admire artist Michael Lin’s large-scale installation “Reproduction” from this elevated point. At the center of the lobby lies a stainless-steel reflecting pool, the result of years of careful design and craftsmanship. Constructed with curved stainless-steel plates, it not only mirrors the surrounding greenery and natural light but also helps regulate the indoor temperature, creating a comfortable microclimate within the space.
Rising 27 meters high, the atrium of the art museum vertically connects six floors, making it the tallest exhibition space among all art museums in Taiwan. Upon opening, it will feature a large-scale site-specific installation titled “The Roving Dedication – Three Shades under a Tree” by Korean artist Haegue Yang. The work draws inspiration from the shared “sacred tree” culture found in both Taiwan and Korea, symbolizing the spiritual connection between nature and community. In the future, the art museum plans to continue inviting international artists to create two-year rotating large-scale installations designed specifically for the Green Museumbrary. A spiraling ramp guides visitors naturally through the exhibition, encouraging an intuitive flow of exploration. The transparent spatial design allows the interior artworks to engage in a dialogue with the lush greenery outside, making it possible for even those strolling through the park to glimpse the art within. In total, the Green Museumbrary houses five exhibition halls, each with varying ceiling heights from 4 to 10 meters, distributed across multiple levels. The museum’s inaugural exhibition, “A Call of All Beings,” will be presented in its entirety within these five exhibition halls.
On the other side, the library presents a distinctly different atmosphere. With a seven-meter-high lobby, the space features streamlined furniture and metallic finishes that create a bright, open ambiance. It is equipped with self-service book borrowing machines and book sterilizers for reader convenience. The flower-shaped bookshelves and chairs, thoughtfully designed by SANAA, add a touch of ingenuity. Notably, the library also features a specially designed “air-return bookshelf”, which integrates the air conditioning return vents into its structure, promoting natural air circulation while achieving a balance of functionality, aesthetics, and comfort.
Connecting the museum and library is the “Cultural Forest”, a semi-outdoor rooftop garden that serves as another of the Green Museumbrary’s fusion spaces. Enveloped by expanded metal mesh, the garden forms a gentle transitional zone, allowing the Green Museumbrary to seamlessly extend into the Central Park, blurring the boundary between architecture and landscape. A circular skybridge links the two facilities—the art museum and the library—inviting visitors to wander freely and experience the unique rhythm and openness of the space.

Main Visual Unveiled — Interpreting the Cultural Vitality and the Spirit of “Openness and Integration” in Everyday Life
The Green Museumbrary also unveiled its main visual, designed by 247 Visual Art. The design softens the boundaries between function and space, embodying the spirit of “openness and integration,” and presenting a new paradigm of coexistence between the dual institutions and nature.
The main visual is composed of linear graphics and vivid geometric color blocks, creating a modern and striking aesthetic. The library’s logo, inspired by the concept of the “Book of Freedom,” symbolizes intellectual awakening and limitless imagination. Meanwhile, the museum’s logo incorporates elements of the golden ratio and the spiraling atrium, reflecting the fluidity and vitality of the architecture itself. Together, these elements form a unified yet adaptable identity system—one that is both recognizable and versatile, allowing flexible application across various contexts. It invites the public to take part in shaping a shared cultural dialogue that connects the city, nature, and its people.

A Diverse Array of Programs to Experience During Trial Opening
During its trial opening period, the Taichung Green Museumbrary will host a rich lineup of artistic and literary programs. Highlights include a special lecture and international forum led by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, an interactive collection exhibition inspired by the concept of a semi-open storage space, and two themed book exhibitions. Furthermore, the art museum will present the program “Opening Our Museum: N Ways to Encounter the Green Museumbrary,” while the library will introduce “A New Chapter of Reading: Life Proposals with the Green Museumbrary.” These series feature outdoor literary light installations, video and sound art, the unique “A Night at the Green Museumbrary” event, and plein-air art workshops, offering citizens a vibrant blend of art and reading experiences that merge within this new cultural space. The Green Museumbrary stands as a symbol of Taichung’s cultural vision, connecting the Central Park, the Shuinan Transport Center, and the International Convention and Exhibition Center to form the heart of the city’s cultural district. With its trial operation in late October and official grand opening in December, Taichung is set to welcome a new landmark where art, reading, and nature converge, inviting the public to step inside and explore.