Gongyi road has long been the major commercial artery of the city of Taichung—with its west part centers around the Civic Plaza surrounded by hotels, bars, shopping mall and exquisite stores, east part flanked by miles of large restaurants and their wide range of delicacies, further boomed with the completion of the newest metro line. Nevertheless, these two halves seem to operate independently, with the middle part like a breakpoint—few blocks of nearly no visitors, diners or shoppingers, dim and quiet comparing to the dynamic activities few blocks away.
Gongyi park sits within this middle part, and could somehow be the key to connecting and integrating the two opposite parts into one—shaping Gongyi road as a rather significant figure of urban living style through mingling the trait of its east and west, providing a consecutive roaming experience.
The two new washroom pavilions will define the park’s new gesture facing Gongyi road, welcoming visitors from both east and west, facilitating diverse events at this meeting point.
The west pavilion is composed of elevated washroom on a pond, stretches forward to sidewalk a tiered bus stop, under folded canopy supported through a small tower structure. Commuters is thus offered an easy access to public amenity. A walkway connects the two distinct forms of women and men’s washroom—one with orange, translucent tapering elliptical cone shell, and one a twisting box with weathering steel roof, respectively. They will be lit at night, providing a sense of secure and to be a new beacon in the night street.
The east pavilion merges washroom with a street side tiered patio and a semi-outdoor bleacher on top. The bleacher is set to be in dialogue with the existing rotunda-like pavilion structure at the center of Gongyi park, injecting possibilities for it as a stage for performance and community events, or families hanging out on the platform while children playing down in the round space.
These additions to the park replace the former banal line of bushes and fences along the street. The program of a washroom expanded to shape an open and dynamic civic place. The middle blocks of Gongyi road could be thus lit up and prosper, ready for a more energetic and enjoyable experience of this glamourous city.
