Alishan Forestry Story & Mountain Art Pavilions

A century ago, the echoing sounds of timber harvesting and transportation reshaped Alishan, weaving a complex industrial history into the mountain’s memory. Nestled within restored historic timber structures deep in the Alishan forest, Forest Era (Forestry Story Pavilion) and A-li-san (Mountain Art Pavilion) re-examine a hundred years of forestry development, Indigenous Tsou culture, and contemporary artistic expressions through a transformative, light-driven narrative.

The lighting design centers on using light as a powerful sculpting tool to magnify the rich textures, raw beauty, and structural presence of timber. Adopting a high-contrast, theatrical lighting strategy (chiaroscuro), narrow-beam spotlights dramatically carve out the volumetric presence of massive raw timber stacks, suspended steel cables, and intricate interlocking wooden installations. By keeping background elements in subtle shadow, light directs visitor focus, creating immersive spatial depth and evocative storytelling within the historic timber interior.

In Forest Era, warm-toned grazing light accentuates the rings and rough-hewn bark of domestic timber, symbolizing the transition from natural forest resource to modern material. In A-li-san, soft focal lighting illuminates Indigenous artistic creations and historical artifacts within a fragmented spatial layout inspired by forest "crown shyness." Across both pavilions, precise optical control and warm illumination honor the warmth of wood, connecting natural landscape, heritage architecture, and human memory into a captivating, candlelit-like journey.