Museum of Prehistory
©KRIS YAO | ARTECH by Shawn Liu Studio

Museum of Prehistory

KRIS YAO | ARTECH as Architects

The Museum of Prehistory sits in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, where relics dating back 5,000 years have been unearthed. The building follows two different axes. The first has a north-south configuration, and this takes the form of a black basalt block, pointing toward true north, in the manner of ancient burial sites, symbolizing the order of the past. The other axis rotates 19 degrees to align with present-day Tainan’s city grid, and over this, a glass tube hovers, adhering to the order of the modern world. These twin concepts run through the entire museum, from the placement of the building itself to the display of objects, signifying the very nature of archaeological work—namely, using methods of the present to explore evidence of the past, and applying a modern perspective to interpret objects from a previous time.

photo_credit Jeffrey Cheng
Jeffrey Cheng
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Jeffrey Cheng
Jeffrey Cheng

The museum consists of three architectural elements. First is the square main building, each side being 70 meters long and 21 meters tall. Its surface is clad with split-face basalt, producing a black brutalist mass that sits stably on the site. Second is the monumental square tube, 90 meters in length and with a square section of 8.7 by 8.7 meters. This was constructed from structural glass wrapped around a series of steel frames. The glazed square tube slices the main building in half, dividing displays from offices, storage areas, and conservation labs, clearly splitting the space into one area for staff, and another for visitors. Third is the square aluminum section, each side measuring 3.3 meters wide, which runs externally from floor to floor, tying the two other elements together.

photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio

From the entrance plaza, an enclosed metal walkway—split in four places to admit natural light—acts as a dramatic vestibule for the museum. The approach leads immediately to the tilted glass tunnel, which slices diagonally through the block, bringing visitors right up to the top of the building. While progressing through this passageway, visitors get the sense of traveling through the layers of archaeological dig, passing walls decorated with reliefs of human and animal figures, building anticipation for the surprise that awaits them at the top—a visual highlight in the form of high-speed trains that whisk by every few minutes.

photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio

From this glimpse of the modern world, visitors continue on to a winding ramp—again, within a tunnel—that descends in a counterclockwise direction to displays of prehistoric artifacts and traces of human activities. The route is punctuated by a courtyard with vibrant yellow walls that frames the sky as a perfect square. The direction of descent was intentionally designed to create the sense of winding back the clock, or traveling back in time, as if accompanying archaeologists as they dig through layers of history and make their discoveries. Visitors slowly make their way down one gentle slope, only to find another waiting at the next turn, creating the illusion of an expedition descending ever deeper into the archaeological realm. The changing orientation enhances the rise and fall of the slope, creating the perception of a never-ending pathway, when in reality, the journey spans just three floors.

photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio

At the entrance to the museum, terraces bordered by river rocks evoke the retaining walls traditionally used in the rice fields of the region. This establishes an appropriate transition as visitors progress toward the building itself, its interlocking structures symbolizing the use of modern methods to carry out an archeological exploration.

photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio
photo_credit Shawn Liu Studio
Shawn Liu Studio

Glimpses of the high-speed train, lasting no more than three seconds a time, provide the visual highlight at the end of the glass passageway, where the site’s close proximity to the high-speed rail track allows visitors a close-up view from an observation deck. This silent, recurring scene is like a work of art in itself—and a powerful contrast to the static yet buzzing atmosphere of the exhibition spaces to come.

photo_credit KRIS YAO│ARTECH
KRIS YAO│ARTECH
photo_credit KRIS YAO│ARTECH
KRIS YAO│ARTECH
Products Behind Projects
Product Spotlight
News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico
12 Dec 2024 News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico

Mexican architecture studio Fernanda Canales has designed a semi-open, circular community center for... More

Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne
12 Dec 2024 News
Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne

Located in Melbourne, 550 Spencer is the first building in Australia to generate its own electricity... More

SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse
11 Dec 2024 News
SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse

In the heart of Westminster, London, the London-based architectural studio SPPARC has restored and r... More

Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals
10 Dec 2024 News
Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals

Ryohei Tanaka of Japanese architectural firm G Architects Studio designed a bijou coffee stand in Ky... More

New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades
10 Dec 2024 News
New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades

In Montreal, Quebec, Le Petit Laurent is a newly constructed residential and commercial building tha... More

RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin
10 Dec 2024 News
RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin

Located on Georgetown University's downtown Capital Campus, the McCourt School of Policy by Robert A... More

MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport
9 Dec 2024 News
MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport

MVRDV has designed a modular and multi-functional sports club in a shipping container for Amsterdam-... More

Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' awards categories
9 Dec 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' project awards categories

Archello is excited to introduce a new set of twelve 'Unbuilt' project awards for the Archello Award... More