立建築

The overall planning and design of the North Gang Sugar Railway Green Corridor consist of three parts: "Nü-er Bridge," "Sky Bridge," and "North Gang Creek Railway Bridge and Surrounding Landscape."

The North Gang Sugar Factory was originally established by the "Dai Nippon Sugar Company" in 1911. In the same year, the "Jia-Bei Line" railway was constructed, connecting Jiayi Xin Gang with Yunlin North Gang. Initially, it primarily transported sugarcane raw materials, but gradually became an important means of transportation for residents and students along the line.

After World War II, sugar became an important export agricultural product in Taiwan, reaching its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. The railway passed through two prosperous Mazu temples - the "Xin Gang Feng Tian Temple" and the "North Gang Chao Tian Temple." Devotees from various places took the Jia-Bei Line to pilgrimage, and during its heyday, the trains were always full, not only boosting economic activities around the sugar railway but also shaping local customs, ritual behaviors, and cultural history.

With the evolution of time and the transformation of economic industries, the decline of the sugar industry and the improvement of the highway transportation system led to the railway's closure in 1982. Once known as the vital "Golden Railway" of the surrounding towns and villages, its brilliance came to an end, and the communities along the line also faced decline.

The North Gang Creek is the boundary river between Yunlin and Jiayi counties. The "Fuxing Railway Bridge" spans the North Gang Creek with a total length of 870 meters, making it the longest Wufenzi Railway Bridge in Taiwan, registered as a historical building. After the railway stopped operating, some bridge piers deteriorated over time, leading to partial collapse and the fracture of the railway bridge, cutting off the connectivity on both sides of the river. The railway bridge, built with earth embankments and cobblestones about one floor high to cross the river, is a unique artificial landscape on the local flat terrain. However, after the railway's function disappeared, the earth embankment divided the original urban fabric into front and back sections.

"For me, the most important aspect of this project is to address the connection between points within the city. The reconnected line is like the human spine, reconnecting the relationship between the residents of North Gang and Xin Gang. From the spine, it extends slowly to the surrounding community alleys, interacting with the surrounding environment, becoming a place where residents can flip their lives in the back alleys, reconnecting with their land, culture, and history, and even developing new activities or new industries."

Adhering to the principles of respecting local spatial texture and historical cultural context, through the three main designs of Nü-er Bridge, Sky Bridge, and North Gang Creek Railway Bridge and the surrounding landscape, the project reconstructs a series of abandoned railway relics and surrounding urban landscapes, extending from the North Gang Creek to the old site of the North Gang Sugar Factory.