Freedom within Machinery

There has always been a discordant relationship between people and industrial facilities, as can be seen from the historical process after industrialization.

Kaohsiung International Port is the world's first processing export zone, but in the post-industrial era, the giant-scale industrial space plays a role that urban residents cannot participate in these days; The industrial Island sustains most of the economy of the city, which today, on the island, still operating an old-fashion way, maintaining a tightly controlled space. Such scenes from different eras are simultaneously juxtaposed in Kaohsiung Port, forming a magical but realistic scene.

Philosopher Friedrich Schiller offers the concept of: “Man is Only Human When at Play”. "Human beings are bound by the spiritual and material double bondages in their lives, and in these bondages, they lose their ideals and freedom. So people use the remaining spirit to create a free world, which is the concept of a “game”. This creative activity arises from human instinct. "

For people on this island, requires liberation from the repetitive mechanical behavior of the old times; for people in the city, requires a space away from the city where they can relax and play. So cutting through this unknown island by inserting a linear sports center, allows people to use their bodies to conquer the huge industrial machines of the old era.

All the facilities are arranged according to the limit of the height of the sports, forming an experience of scale transition and cutting this unknown island like a cross-section, allowing people to pass through and see all the industrial processes while exercising, and comprehending the whole island. What these industrial machine movements and human movements create is a magical but real experience that makes people aware of their own existence in the conflict between mechanical processes and bodily perception, creating a playing landscape in an industrialized space.

Chen-Chieh, Huang

National Cheng Kung University