The Wooden Wonders Pavilion and Exhibition in Chiayi, Taiwan, designed by MVRDV, served as a temporary exhibition for the 320+1 City Expo, celebrating the 321st anniversary of the city’s founding. The design presents a full-scale temporary architectural prototype that demonstrates the principles of sustainable construction and urban heritage.
MVRDV’s vision for Chiayi’s Sustainable Timber Future
Commissioned by the Chiayi City Government, the architectural intervention is on display from December 12 to 28. Strategically located opposite Chiayi’s city hall, the pavilion maximizes visibility while reinforcing its sustainability goals. The official title, the 320+1 City Expo, signifies the city’s forward-looking vision for sustainable architecture and circular design. MVRDV’s design approach illustrates the city’s historic identity as a wooden city, blending with the local context and transforming the structure into a landmark.
Chiayi as the “Lumber City”
Chiayi City, known as the lumber city, is recognized for its strategic position as the primary processing and transfer hub for the vast timber resources harvested from the Alishan area within Taiwan’s mountainous surroundings. The city maintains over 6,000 timber buildings and has recently started to protect, revive, and restore the heritage.
The project, Wooden Wonders, navigates the sensitive historical narrative while foregrounding a climate-conscious future. Drawing inspiration from and closely studying the existing timber buildings, the MVRDV design team documented their distinctive details, supporting long-term municipal restoration efforts.
MVRDV’s “Wooden Wonders” Pavilion
The spatial design establishes the central outdoor area as an urban living room, demonstrating a space for people to gather, interact, and engage with the city’s history. The pavilion, executed in collaboration with Guanglai Construction, is defined by its perimeter structure, which intentionally encloses a square courtyard. The spatial and tactile qualities of the pavilion explore the possibilities of modern timber construction, serving as a bold demonstration of the material’s structural integrity.
The key details include four chamfered corners, referencing the diagonal cuts in historic Chiayi timber buildings, a dynamic roofline featuring ornamental crowns, and decorative facade elements inspired by specific, notable wooden buildings, such as a local museum and a police station. The strategy of providing three sides as gateways into the central courtyard establishes clear points of entry.
The interiors are painted in distinct pastel colors, intentionally referring to the specific colors of original historic buildings to integrate cultural memory and create welcoming entrances. The goal of the exhibition is to explore the city’s relationship with wood, moving from celebrating its natural resource origins to showcasing modern construction possibilities.
Thematic Segmentation
The Past: The Workshop
One area of the perimeter space, designated as the Workshop, addresses the problem of forgotten knowledge and celebrates the skills that produced a rich historical range of wooden products, from toys and furniture to buildings.
The Present: The Forest
A section dedicated to the forest addresses the current status of the resource and details how timber is grown and harvested under contemporary policies. The exhibit invites visitors to engage all five senses, aiming to establish a tangible connection with the surroundings.
The Future: The Main Hall and the Wood Capital Vision
Another three sections of the exhibition, housed within a two-storey space, highlight the potential of timber construction in Taiwan’s seismic zones. The content is translated into a clear visual hierarchy, where the goal of future timber adoption is presented as the most desirable and prominent outcome of Chiayi’s developmental path.
Wooden Wonders Pavilion Project Details
Location: Chiayi, Taiwan
Architects: MVRDV
Surface: 780 m²
Client: Chiayi City Government
Photo Credits: © Shephotoerd
