Taiwan 2018Tao
This is a Taoist temple devoted to the god of Taoism, Kikoku-shi, and located in the mountains of Shinpu, 70 km south of Taipei.
Instead of placing the roof on top of a box, we simply placed this organic-shaped roof directly on the ground. By warping the edge of the roof that is pulled up from the ground, we achieved a unique shape that enables people to enter from the corner of the hipped roof, rather than the typical entrances of gabled or flat roofed houses.
There are no pillars or beams, nor a framing for the roof. It is a wooden dome structure where rigidity is secured simply from the joist and the roofing board. We used 50mm laminated plywood joists arranged at a distance of 500mm. Thus, we were able to realize a certain kind of rhythm in the structure, similar to tokyoo – the extending entablature that used to support wooden buildings in many Asian countries.
