Chukou Visitor Center

To make Taiwan's rural visitor center a better place to introduce local tourism information to people, we participated in the spatial re-shaping project of the Chukou Visitor Center located in Fanlu Township, a rural area close to Alishan in Chiayi County, Taiwan.

The space is re-divided into six themed exhibition areas (railroad, ecology, tribe, romance, tea, coffee) that highlight Alishan’s tourism spots, a local industry exhibition area, rest spaces, a service desk, etc. We liberated the travel information that used to be concentrated in the folding leaflets into the exhibition space, and present in the form of original graphic illustrations, multimedia installations, physical models, and other design forms. At the same time, we cleaned, restored, and upcycled outdated exhibits/artifacts in the original exhibition area and reappeared them with a new look.

The ecological window boxes containing concentrated ecology of Alishan are shown in different areas of the visitor center. The animals and plants hidden afterwards are looming. When people want to look closer, they can't see clearly because of the special structural visual influence of the glass capron plate. Only when people step back and stay away can they see more clearly - to echo the relationship between man and the ecological environment, human beings respect and stay away from the ecology can preserve the integrity and richness of the ecological natural environment.

Another highlight of the visitor center is the digital art installation "Silhouette Forest" inspired by the 1965 work "Le Blanc Seing" by the artist René Magritte. Following the form of surrealism, we dissected, dislocated and reconstructed the elements of reality, such as "body", "shadow", "mountain", and "forest", letting Alishan's imagery transcend reality and producing new sensory interpretations in the interaction between people and light and shadow.

Through the spatial reshaping, the original dark and claustrophobic visitor center is transformed into a bright and comfortable place suitable for parents, children, and tourists. The public can freely meander in the exhibition and search/collect information on topics of interest, thus making the visitor center not only a lead-in for local tourism but also a travel destination itself.