The Kaohsiung Main Public Library is the world’s first column-suspended “green” building, library director Pan Cheng-yi (潘政儀) said on Saturday.
The library, which opened in Kaohsiung’s Cianjhen District (前鎮) three years ago, has become a landmark of the city with its innovative energy-saving features, Pan said.
The balconies from the third to eighth floors on the building’s west and south sides have 5m-wide lawns, while an atrium on the sixth floor features a garden with several fully grown trees.
Photo: CNA
The plants help cool the building and reduce the use of air-conditioners, given the city’s high summer temperatures, Pan said, adding that the green surroundings also help visitors refresh themselves.
“The library is a ‘green’ building that can breathe,” Pan said. “There is a garden on its roof, where visitors can view the lovely Port of Kaohsiung.”
There are more than 5,000 air vents on the library’s floors that blow cool air from the bottom up and decrease energy consumption by about 30 percent, he said, adding that the indoor plants can also lower the temperature by 2°C.
Readers, books and the environment are integrated at the library, which is not a rigid structure, but an ecological space in harmony with its surroundings, he said.
The library has set six records, including the world’s first column-suspended building and most transparent library, as well as the world’s largest suspended atrium and the first 7.5m-high square without columns, Pan said.
It is also the nation’s most systematized structure with the most flexible functions, he said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS