BIAS Architects . photos: © Ethan Lee . + archdaily
Before election days in Taiwan, the streets are filled with banners and billboards with candidates’ faces and political symbols. Trucks and minibuses with loudspeakers drive through the streets, trumpeting loud music, the candidates’ names, and their speeches. Unfortunately, while all the narratives address the city and its good management, most often the spaces of the last are just jammed because of the activities.
In late 2018, the Democratic Progressive Party nominated candidate Cheng Wen-Tsan was seeking the second term as Taoyuan city mayor and tasked BIAS architects to design a new “model” for a campaign headquarter, a temporary architecture that could host the political activity, but offer a statement for the urban space, too.
In contrast with the campaign style of the other candidates, BIAS developed a simple, modern-looking, circular pavilion that quietly sat for about a month at the riverbanks of Laojie River, Taoyuan. Constructed with greenhouse building materials, the structure was easy to assemble and disassemble, leaving a minimal impact on the environment. Shading nets and plastic foil provided protection from the sun and rain, but also a translucent, unassuming appearance.
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