TAIWAN STARTUP STADIUM

Startup Arena / Urban Forest

A grand but utterly derelict stadium is to be revived as the national incubation hub of technology startups. The stadium sits on the grounds of a large public park that once hosted the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition, and is well served by shops, restaurants and exhibition spaces in its outer periphery.

The design concept transforms the distinct stadium typology into 2 levels of landscaped terraces linked by infinity ramp loops. The lower stadium is public, whereas the upper stadium is sectioned off as the rest and recreation gardens of the startup stadium. The internal arena, currently an asphalted parking lot, will be rebirth not as a lawn for track and field, but as an urban forest, a green heart of peace and serenity in the otherwise heavily commercialised expo grounds.

The lower stadium will have an elevated public promenade reachable by broad walk ramps and bike paths. The upper stadium promenade links the existing interior 3F concourse to the exterior terraced stadium landscape. The 3F will house the main public programs of the startup stadium: conferences spaces, galleries, cafe/ bar, social spaces, and a capsule hotel laid out in a ring form with multiple access points to landscape terraces overlooking the green lush heart of the urban arena.

The original electronic score board will be transformed into a digital gallery of new media art. All original dragon-adorned concrete balustrades and traditional terracotta screens that circumscribed the entire stadium on all floors are preserved; which inspired the modern glass reinforced concrete filigree screens designed and made by digital fabrication at the front entrance of the Startup Stadium.