URBAN PARCHMENT

Plaza

Political Memory and Everyday Coexistence

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza embodies a space shaped primarily for commemoration, where its monumental scale often suppresses traces of everyday life. Such a condition reflects how political power influences architectural and urban landscapes, presenting commemoration and daily life as opposing forces. This project reconsiders the plaza through an urban framework, introducing everyday programs and fluid circulation to draw people into the site. By doing so, it seeks to transform the plaza into a space where memory and contemporary life can coexist, and where the spirit of the place evolves with the times.

2021
Academic Thesis Design (NCKU Architecture)
Plaza
Taipei, Taiwan
Jing-Juan, Lin

Monumentality and Political Powers

These conceptual collages seek to capture the sense of oppression embodied in monumental plazas and the way political power manifests through scale and spatial form. They highlight the tension between commemoration and everyday life, as well as the exclusivity embedded in spaces of authority. Serving as a point of departure, these images inform the design’s attempt to transform a space of imposition into an inclusive urban ground where memory and daily life can coexist.

Special Administrative District Regulations

Located within Taipei’s Bo’ai Special District and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Special Administrative District, the site is subject to strict planning regulations, including height control, façade restrictions, and a ban on commercial use, reflecting its political and historical significance.

Urban Interventions and Spatial Dialogue

At the urban scale, the design introduces subtle interventions to reshape the dialogue between people and the city. By opening the underpass to extend existing urban patterns and partially removing the walls to allow free circulation around the plaza, the project encourages new forms of interaction between individuals and their surroundings.

Subterranean Programs and Circulation

Located underground to respect the memorial hall, the design introduces everyday programs that attract visitors beneath the plaza. Circulation flows from sloped entries through the library and exhibition spaces, aligning with the memorial before leading back up to the ground level.