Since its inauguration in 1900 during the Japanese colonial period, Tainan Railway
Station has ushered the city into a new era through over a century of transformation.
The rapid population growth and increasing demand for urban land development
have made the undergrounding of the railway inevitable. Tainan Railway Station is
a crucial piece of Taiwan’s transportation infrastructure; at the same time, it carries
profound historical significance, giving rise to the dual nature of this heritage site:
“Infrastructure X Past X Future.” This project focuses on highly efficient infrastructure
and the re-presentation of the historical narrative of Tainan Station, integrating the
infrastructure with the city’s story through spatial strategies.

As the fifth-largest railway station in Taiwan and located in the heart of Tainan, the
station has driven the city’s modern development. Its functional enhancement and
future expansion are anticipated, and maintaining high infrastructural efficiency
remains the primary design principle. Currently, the surface-level railway divides the
city into eastern and western parts, not only hindering traffic flow but also becoming
a weakness in urban development. After the undergrounding of the railway, the
renewed spaces, materials, and climate conditions will become opportunities for a
new Tainan. However, both the current station and many of its proposed redesigns
lack substantial responses to these issues.

The Tainan Railway Station heritage building has undergone several phases of
renovation, with architectural traces left by different eras. The current plan preserves
the historic building during the construction of the new station. Its geographic
location bears witness to Tainan’s historical development, and the building itself
tells a story parallel to the city’s history. The new underground station will inevitably
create interactions between the old and the new. How to humbly yet proactively
integrate space, material, experience, and perspective in a way that blends past and
future becomes a critical design issue.

I question the current state of Tainan Railway Station, and therefore hold strong
opinions and expectations for the future that the new station will bring to the city.
Just as each previous generation of stations has shaped Tainan for decades, the
new station will have a lasting impact. Hence, every design decision is made with
great caution. Drawing from years of observation and understanding of Tainan, this
project seeks to envision an ideal future for the city.

This project is a long-term and large-scale research endeavor, encompassing an urban renewal area of over 50,000 square meters following the undergrounding of Tainan Railway Station. In addition to the station itself—an important piece of transportation infrastructure—the project also involves the redesign of the surrounding road system, supporting transit facilities, the new underground station, and newly planned office buildings. The design process addresses both large-scale urban planning and small-scale architectural detailing.

On the technical level, the project encompasses: basic technical drawings (plans and sections), structural drawings, underground foundation structure drawings, detailed construction components, optimized generative design, and sustainability analysis (Outdoor Comfort Analysis x CFD Simulation).