• 2023-06-06

Having won the ALA international innovation citation, the National Central Library received further international recognition: the British International Property Award: Best Public Service Interior Taiwan. The award ceremony was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 30. Architect Fufeng Li of the Tien Shih Lien-he architecture firm, the project's designer, attended to receive the award and shared his honor and joy with the National Central Library and readers.

The Open Lab space is located in the downtown area of Ximending, Taipei. It was originally an office space owned by the Environmental Protection Agency. In response to the organizational changes at the Environmental Protection Agency, the two sides exchanged premises. Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng of the National Central Library believes that, “Library management must keep pace with the times, evolve with the times, and change somewhat in the light of demand and professional developments. The National Central Library shoulders the responsibility of guiding libraries throughout the country, not only enabling domestic libraries to keep up with the pace of the world, but also enabling the public to enjoy the same progressive library services. Taking this opportunity for spatial transformation, therefore, transformation of the original "Art and Audiovisual Data Center" was planned, and the national library team was personally led to communicate and coordinate constantly with architects and artists from space planning and visual design to service realization, in order to createadiverse reading and creator space for everyone.

Taiwan's first base for reading combined with diverse creativity.

In order to cater to young people's needs and local cultural characteristics, the OPEN LAB space holistically designed five major functions, combining exploration, learning, experience, creativity, and sharing, installed digital creativity practice areas, cartoon creation areas, arts and craft workshops, carpentry workshops, personal/parent-child live broadcast rooms, group practice rooms, group discussion rooms, ∞display areas, studying and learning areas, etc., and other creative study spaces, and provided new and original software and hardware equipment, enabling the public to advance all kinds of experiences and creative inspiration. It is Taiwan's first base for reading combined with diverse creativity.

Sustainable design taking the user as its starting point

Open Lab has successfully transformed the old office space into a bright and comfortable creative base. The interior design takes user behavior as the starting point, planning reading, learning, creation and interaction spaces by way of static to dynamic moving lines; demolishing the original low ceilings and unnecessary partitions to create a sense of openness, and adopting transparent, streamline design bookshelves and walkways to bring rhythm to the space; the large windows not only offer a panoramic view of the landscape of Taipei City, but also introduce abundant natural light and air flow, reducing the need for lighting and air conditioning, and achieving the objectives of energy savings, carbon reduction and sustainable development. Open Lab is not only a library and a creative experiment center, but also an exercise in the practice of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. It brings new vitality into old buildings, avoids idle space and wastage of building materials, and creates new life for buildings.

Creative image dolls increase the color vitality of the space

In order to highlight the innovative style and creative spirit of Open Lab, Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng invited artist Star Hsieh to design icons, which also bring vibrant colors to the space; "Octopus" and its tentacles symbolize various talents and interests, encouraging the public in continuous learning and innovation; and the "little aliens" of various colors represent Open Lab's desire for future innovative knowledge, science and technology. Open Lab aspires to become an incubator for users' creativity and, through various forms of communication, creation and experience, extend the possibility of, and imagination for, infinite development.

Securing the 2023 British International Property Award: Best Public Service Interior Taiwan provides affirmation of Open Lab's achievements in spatial design and atmosphere creation by international architectural professionals, as well as proof of the National Central Library's persistent pursuit of excellence and innovation. Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng said that, thanks to the full support of the Ministry of Education and the efforts of all colleagues in the museum, Open Lab can create a variety of service types, encourage more people to use technological equipment to participate in self-creation, and achieve inspiration through perfect space and equipment, creating multiple values.