Opened on Feb. 5, Pingtung’s Civic Park, constructed on the site of an old paper mill belonging to Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar), last week won the Platinum Award in the 2021 MUSE Design Awards’ category of Landscape Design in the US.
Sugar was once a major industry in Taiwan, and the Pingtung Sugar Factory was one of the country’s three main sugar factories, along with those in Tainan’s Hsinying District and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township. Sugarcane pulp, a by-product of sugar manufacturing, could be used as a raw material for papermaking. To meet the increasing demand for paper in Taiwan, and as part of Taisugar’s efforts to diversify, a paper mill was established in Pingtung in September 1977 to put this pulp to good use.
Pingtung’s Civic Park is the first park in Taiwan made from a repurposed industrial site. Pingtung County Government redesigned the preparation pit and wastewater sedimentation tank of the old pulp mill, retaining the original wall with its rusty surface texture. The pulp has been preserved and repurposed to give the historical site a new lease of life with a modern aesthetic touch. The ingenious design has transformed parts of the existing building into a trampoline, a selfie mirror and a “landscape theater.” At night, the dream-like ambience created by the lighting and water reflections make the park a popular spot for photography and a social media check-in site.
Photo: CNA 照片：中央社
(Translated by Lin Lee-kai, Taipei Times)
以台糖紙漿廠舊址活化的屏東縣民公園二月五日開放，上週勇奪二○二一美國「繆思女神獎盃」景觀設計類「鉑金獎」。
台灣糖業盛極一時，屏東糖廠曾與台南新營、雲林虎尾並列三大總廠，製糖所產生的大量蔗渣，是造紙的絕佳原料。隨著時代演變，台灣文化用紙需求增加，台糖開始多角化經營，於一九七七年九月興建屏東紙漿廠。
Photo: Yeh Yung-chien, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者葉永騫
屏東縣民公園為台灣第一座工業遺址的公園。縣府將舊紙漿廠的備料地坑與廢水沉澱池重新規畫設計，保留了原始牆面紋理、輔以鏽化地標意象，保留紙漿生產製程場域的活化空間，讓歷史能夠呈現，又具有現代的美感，巧妙設計變成彈跳床、鏡面自拍，以及「地景劇場」，令人耳目一新，夜間燈光更營造出夢幻打卡景點，成為最美的水與光的影像。
（自由時報記者邱芷柔、葉永騫）
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者羅欣貞
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