Start of reconstruction 2005 Est’ed Completion 2012 Cost US$ 540,000,000 Size Main Station 40,000 m2 Size Main Station area 470,000 m2 Size towers (floor size) C1: 207,000 m2 D1: 306,000 m2 Passengers/day 1,000,000

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Taipei – Main Station, Taiwan

Taipei’s first rail station was opened in 1891 and rebuilt in 1940 to accommodate growing passenger traffic. Later, an un-derground railway tunnel was built to al-leviate traffic congestion caused by rail-way crossings in downtown Taipei and with it another new, the present, station building. After the completion of the un-derground system in 1989 the historic and temporary station were both demol-ished. Moreover, in 1998 the current sta-tion was further expanded with an under-ground level that connects to Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT) as well as extensive underground shopping malls in the front and back of the build-ing.

Then, in 2005, the Taiwan Department of Rapid Transit Systems and the Taipei City Government introduced another con-struction project to the area giving it the reputation of being a “never ending con-struction site”. The newest station will serve as a hub for six transportation sys-tems: the Taiwan Railway Administration, the Taiwan High-Speed Rail, the Airport Express, island-wide buses, and MRT. For this, the administrations chose Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki to redesign the station as well as a high-rise complex of retail, office, a hotel, and a park adjunct to Main Station and crowned by two tow-

ers (320m and 240m) that will subse-quently become Taipei’s second tallest buildings. The towers will be linked to Main Station by a series of underground tunnels while a new underground station atrium will extend for 5 stories down to the platform level.

Moreover – and besides the key trans-portation component of the project, the Taipei Tao-Yuan International Airport Ac-cess MRT System – the Taipei Department of Urban Development commissioned a “Taipei Main Station and Central Park Development Project” to formulate suit-able policy and planning solutions for the Taipei Main Station area. The project’s goal is to “shape a distinctive gateway image for Taipei […] as well as enhance the urban quality and character of the Taipei Main Station area”. The project is also related to Taiwan’s new Arts and Cultural Initiative which will “provide a brand new cultural environment for arts, culture, and innovations by forming the ‘green corridor network’ for the Capital City, as well as conserving and re-utilizing historical industrial estates”. With the introduction of architecture, arts, and culture MRT tries add a “human” component to seed and safety that em-phasizes comfort and aesthetics and turns “MRT space into a cultural phenomenon”.

Resources: Taipei City Government – Department of Urban Devel-opment http://english.taipei.gov.tw/udd/index.jsp?categid=5097&recordid=7684

Taipei City Government – Department of Rapid Transit Systems http://english.taipei.gov.tw/dorts/index.jsp?categid=2421

Taiwan Railway Administra-tion – Taipei Station http://service.tra.gov.tw/en/CP/11434/Taipei.aspx

Railway Reconstruction Bu-reau http://www.rrb.gov.tw/english/english.asp

Maki and Associates www.maki-and-associates. co.jp/e/project/49.html

Video animation www.edsgroup.com.tw/image/p040/video.WMV

Media coverage China Post 2005 “Twin Towers to highlight Taipei by 2011” July 9, 2005.

Public discussion forum http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=132876

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The “never ending construction site”

Sources: Google Earth 2009; service.tra.gov.tw; english.taipei.gov.tw; www.maki-and-associates.co.jp.

Project partner Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Bu-reau of High Speed Rail, Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Gov-ernment Projects Components Taipei Tao-Yuan Interna-tional Airport Access MRT System Multi-modal transportation hub for 6 transport systems Underground station High-rise complex of retail (incl. iTaipei shopping mall), office, hotel, and a park

This project profile was developed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Emmy Noether Research Project on “The Urban Renaissance Potential of Inner-City Rail Station Redevelopment Mega-Projects.” For additional information on the project: http://megaprojects.metropolitanstudies.de