Concept
Asymptote's design is comprised of two elegant towers and an elevated terminal hall that floats between them.
On the exterior the complex boasts along with two tall towers for the local port authorities administrative offices,
a waterside park, bicycle pathways, outdoor performance spaces and a number of other programs designed
to activate the building by day and night.
The subtle and deliberate curvilinear forms of the terminal's architecture define not only a symbolic gesture but
practically the sweeping canopies contain and protect a large open plaza activated by the flow of people moving
between the harbor and the city. Viewed from the city, the terminal forms an urban gateway that frames the harbor beyond.
The sculpted underside of the floating building provides shelter to the urban space while at night it provides
dramatic illumination for the ongoing public activities, events and celebrations typical of the local culture.
The interior of the terminal building provides a spectacular culmination; a soaring vertical space naturally lit
from above leads up to the large clear span of the terminal hall with sweeping panoramas of the City and the
Kaohsiung skyline on one side and of the Sea, the sky and the horizon on the other.
These are experienced within a dramatic space defined by the sophisticated geometry of the curved shell roof
where a unique pattern of skylights creates ever-changing spatial and light effects, celebrating the events of both
arrival and departure.
