Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture DPC has shared new photos of their recently completed Kaohsiung Port Terminal project in Taiwan’s busiest commercial port. 

The nearly eight-year construction exemplifies the firm’s conception of “3D Urbanism,” breaking apart the design vertically across three separate datums that carry different functions for passengers and pedestrians as oriented to the existing city grid. 

The firm explains: “RUR’s work with 3D Urbanism comes from a long-standing set of explorations challenging the monofunctionally of infrastructure projects which are traditionally conceived and designed to do a single task well, much in the vein of civil engineering. RUR takes an architect’s approach to infrastructure, which eschews monofunctionally in favor of polyfunctional spaces which productively transform the terminal typology from an inert piece of urban hardware into a dynamic space of civic, cultural and commercial interchange.”

The terminal design forms the key to a larger master plan that is soon to be extended across the length of the harborfront. This plan will link commercial, civic, and cultural spaces via an elevated public esplanade. 

The terminal itself is partitioned into three sections the firm calls “lobes,” signifying different itineraries. The structure is comprised of a system of nested “shells” supported by a steel pipe space frame and sandwiched by cladding panels to create a usable cavity in the building envelope. Finally, the concourses are oriented parallel to the waterfront to enhance the connection between the harbor and the shoreline.

RUR collaborated with Fei & Cheng Associates to deliver the project. The estimated total construction cost is approximately $165 million USD.