The architecture and urbanism studio Michèle & Miquel, together with dA VISION DESIGN, has designed a route in the heart of a mountainous region between Taipei and Yan, in eastern Taiwan. This region has been crossed by various routes throughout history. The last ones, built at the beginning of the 20th century, were the roads and railway lines that connected the coal industry. When the mines closed at the turn of the century, the railway was abandoned.

The project consists of creating an eco-historical route, linking the old paths and abandoned infrastructures, to discover the industrial heritage, appreciate the landscape of mountains, gorges, and waterfalls, and revitalize a region affected by the disappearance of the industry. The section of the route discussed here is the one between Mudan and Sandiaoling, passing through an old mine tunnel and over a new suspended walkway that clings to the cliffs of the Keelung River.

The project has been awarded this afternoon in Venice with the Grand Prix AFEX 2023 for the best work outside of France. In addition, the project is one of the 21 selected in the 2023 CSCAE Architecture Awards and one of the 50 finalists for the BEAU XVI.
Michèle & Miquel studio chose not to restore the tunnel and show the transformation of the place since its abandonment, including the rocky and sandy soils accumulated by the typhoons, the lush vegetation that covers the surfaces and the trees that are found throughout the route. The challenge was to make an intervention as discreet and "natural" as possible and let the old infrastructure and the landscape speak for themselves.

Several important works had to be carried out, such as installing a footbridge that did not "touch" the ground or building a complex structure on vertical and unstable ground, all without cutting any trees. For this, a single system of parallel corrugated steel bars was used, which make up the floor and everything that unfolds from it. The bars are curved, creating different elements such as railings, benches or a bicycle rack.

This repetition and succession of identical elements ends up constituting a single whole that makes us forget its presence to give way to a nature that appears everywhere.


The Dark Line by Michèle & Miquel and dA VISION DESIGN. Photograph by LU Yu-Jui.


The Dark Line by Michèle & Miquel and dA VISION DESIGN. Photograph by LU Yu-Jui.

 

Project description by Michèle & Miquel

The project is located in the heart of a mountainous region between Taipei and Ylan, on the Pacific coast, east of Taiwan.

This region has been crossed by multiple routes throughout history:

  • The ways of the aborigines.
  • The three roads between Taipei and the Pacific Ocean of the 19th century.
  • The roads and railway lines built by the Japanese government, to meet the needs of the coal industry, at the beginning of the 20th century.


At the end of the 20th century, the mines were closed and the railway abandoned. The development of this heritage, located in a spectacular landscape of mountains, gorges and waterfalls, becomes the main asset to revitalize a region affected by the disappearance of industry.

The plan consists in the creation of an eco-historical route, linking the old paths and the abandoned infrastructures: tunnels, galleries, railway facilities, mines... to discover the industrial heritage, but also the landscape.

The project presented here is the section of the route between Mudan and Sandiaoling, which passes through an old mine tunnel and continues over a new footbridge that clings to the cliffs of the Keelung River.


The Dark Line by Michèle & Miquel and dA VISION DESIGN. Photograph by LU Yu-Jui.


Our position
Industrial landscapes have an expiration date: the industry abandons the places with the same radicality with which they have been invested. Product of a precise technical-economic system, the infrastructures are emptied as soon as a more efficient system appears. Monumental physical traces remain, where flora and fauna, quick to detect faults, make their habitat.

In few places like this, geological and biological phenomena occur so quickly.

It is now a hybrid environment in which traditional distinctions between nature and culture are blurred. We decided, from the beginning of the project, to keep the tunnel in all its historical thickness, as it is, without restoring it, and to show the transformation of the place since its abandonment, including the rocky and sandy soils accumulated by typhoons, the flow of water from infiltration, the lush vegetation that covers the monumental facades, and the trees that are found along the entire route.

Seeing the encroaching vegetation, the flowing water and the power of geological phenomena, the technical feat of the work becomes more evident and squeezes the power of the change of time.

Recording that the tunnel, through which the steam locomotives hummed, has been transformed into a peaceful, humid cavern, does not mean giving up giving a historical interpretation of the place. On the contrary, it is to broaden the spectrum of history.


The Dark Line by Michèle & Miquel and dA VISION DESIGN. Photograph by LU Yu-Jui.


The project
It has been necessary to carry out important works to allow the opening to the public of this itinerary: going through a tunnel subject to possible landslides, installing a walkway on the ground, "without touching it", building a complex structure on a vertical and unstable ground,... and all without cutting any trees.

The challenge was to make it as discreet and "natural" as possible.

Hide the efforts of the project and the work to let the old infrastructure and landscape speak for themselves, minimizing competition with the existing with the use of a single material and a single system:

  • The corrugated steel bars of 16mm in diameter, constitute all the visible matter.
  • Place parallel, one after the other, 40mm apart, with a 24mm gap between them.

With this choice we place ourselves between the two great works that have impacted the place in the last 100 years: the construction of the train track and the subsequent action of nature, evoking, through matter, the railway and through emptiness, landscape.


The Dark Line by Michèle & Miquel and dA VISION DESIGN. Photograph by LU Yu-Jui.


The bars make up the floor and everything that unfolds from the floor. Each steel bar is curved to create the first line of a limit, a railing, a bench, a bicycle rack, a small amphitheatre, a kilometric inscription or protection inside the tunnel. It is by the sum of the bars that the different elements are completed. This “infinite” repetition ends up constituting a single whole that makes us forget its presence to give way to a nature that appears everywhere: in the distance, as a background frame, beyond the catwalk; in the proximity, through the ground, where we see the rocks and the sand, we hear the water, we touch the vegetation.

At the end of the tunnel, a pool of water reflects the sky.

It is the void left by the old bridge over the Keelung River, collapsed by the floods.

More information

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Architects
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Michèle & Miquel. Lead architects.-  Michèle Orliac, Miquel Batlle.
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Project team
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Michèle & Miquel.- Jerôme Lanche, Maria Fandiño, Giovanna Bartholeschi, Jean Orliac, Grégoire Orliac, Denis Wanders.
Da Vision Design.- Jerry Chang, Ming-Hsien Llu, Lilian Chang.
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Collaborators
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Landscape architect.- Da Vision Design. Chung-Hsun Wu.
Lighting.- ARTEC 3 STUDIO.
Geotechnical engineering.- GEOLITHE engineering.
Structural engineering.- YU SHENG engineering consultants, elements structural engineering associates.
Tunnel structure consultant.- SINOTECH engineering consultants INC.
Electrical engineering.- YUAN DIAN engineering consultant.
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Client
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Public Works Department, New Taipei City Government.
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Builder
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Dao Tian Construction Co., Ltd.
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Dimensions
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Distance.- 3 km.
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Dates
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Conception of the project.- 02.2019 > 04.2020.
Works.- 04.2020 > 03.2022.
Opening to the public.- 07.2022.
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Location
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Taiwan, Sandiaoling - Ruifang District, New Taipei City. Republic of China.
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Budget
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TTC.- € 9,300,00.
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Photography
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LU Yu-Jui, Michèle & Miquel.
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Michèle & Miquel is an architecture urbanism and landscape atelier, based in Barcelona, Spain and Toulouse, Francia. It was founded in 1996 by Michèle Orliac and Miquel Batlle.

The team take part in the development of public spaces, urban facilities, strategic points, urban peculiar situations…etc. The philosophy of their work lies in the relationship between the city, architecture and nature, urban planning and landscape architecture and the articulation of different scales: from territorial scale to detail.

Throughout the professional life of the study, many projects have been developed in different topics such as Public spaces and urban facilities (Hortus wineries in Valflaunes, Wallon Marcadau refuge in the National Park of Pyrenees, or the canopies in Vieux Boucau); Director plan of public spaces (Director plan beach in VIEUX BOUCAU in the Atlantic Ocean).

Many projects have been recognized in national and international awards including:

By The Dark Line: AFEX Award 2023 (FR), BEAU XVI Award (ESP), Landezine International Landscape Award 2023, Arquin fad 2023 (ESP), IFLA ASIA PAC Excellence Award 2023, Architettura LOVERS il Premio 2023 (ITA), INT. design Grand Prix du Design paysage & territoires 2023, (CAN), WLA Merit Award Winner 2023, Taiwan Environment Lighting 2023, Building of the Year METALOCUS 2023 (ESP).
 
Award, The 7th Taiwan Landscape 2019.
First prize in the FAD 2017 award. International category with the project Le Jardin NIEL in TOULOUSE, France.
Selected in the international Mies van der Rohe 2017 award with the project Winery in Montpellier, France.
First prize in the FAD 2011 award, landscape and city category, with de project Aigües Park in Figueres, Spain.
First prize in the Trophées de l’aménagement Urbain award three times: at Pams Port Street in Vendres, France; at the ARLES SUR TECH square, France; and at the fairground in Treffort, France.
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dA VISION DESIGN is an architecture studio founded by Chung-Hsun Wu that offers comprehensive consulting services in urban design and landscape architecture. The team combines experiences in landscape architecture, architecture, urban design and urban planning. Passion for space, environment and people resonates within the team, influencing their work, values and professional approaches. With a reserve of optimism and professional skills, they skillfully tailor their services to precisely meet client needs.

​The core value of dA VISION DESIGN is to systematically apply site analysis, sensitively coordinate spatial and functional elements, and then seamlessly integrate them with construction knowledge to formulate holistic design alternatives. Their unwavering commitment includes providing meticulous attention and engaging in innovative problem solving, infusing each project with unique aspects and motivations.
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