Shouldn’t a wastewater treatment plant double up as an education facility and a public amenity? That seems to be thinking of the creators of the new plant in Taoyuan in Taiwan. Reports Kimberley Mok in Treehugger:
Too often, infrastructure is built in a rather unsexy, utilitarian way. But we know that they can be designed as symbols of civic pride, as they are in a lot of places around the world.
In Taiwan, Habitech Architects lent a poetic bent to this sewage treatment plant in Taoyuan, in the northwestern part of the country. Doubling as an environmental education centre, the project is enveloped in a double skin that’s formed with an amorphous-looking steel framework, which references the mountainous landscape found in “Peach Blossom Spring,” a tale written by Chinese poet Tao Yuanming in 421 CE, about a hidden mountain utopia where people live in harmony with nature.
The purification pond featuring the treated wastewater is designed to be the focal point of the ecological education centre. The curved louvered facade forms a mountain dome space that accommodates flower, birds, sunshine, water, breeze, and rain to interact with each other, making it a perfect environment for an ecological educational experience.
An example to be followed widely, I hope!
The culture of what we flush 