基地原貌

嘉義市立美術館是一個與歷史建物共構再利用的設計案，基地位置在嘉義市中山路659號，嘉義市火車站的斜對面側。原基地上建物共分（A／B／C／D）四棟，之前為菸酒公賣局嘉義分局所使用。其中一棟為市定古蹟（A棟），其餘三棟則為一般建物，作為倉庫及零售部門之使用。

歷史特色

菸酒公賣局嘉義分局前身為臺灣總督府專賣局嘉義支局之辦公廳舍，建於1936年（昭和11年），為三層樓之鋼筋混凝土建築，由時任臺灣總督府專賣局技師的梅澤捨次郎設計，平面呈L型，坐東南朝西北。其外牆轉角為弧形，基座抬高，開窗與窗楣呈水平帶狀，強調了水平線條。立面貼有北投產的SCRATCH風格磁磚，是古典建築風格蛻變為現代主義建築風格的歷史見證。而在一、二樓樓梯處特別將柱頭、柱身設計為八邊稜角形的柱子，有日治後期日人東亞戰爭「八紘一宇」的象徵意涵，為空間的視覺焦點。戰後為臺灣省菸酒公賣局嘉義分局使用，於二二八事件時，曾將門窗改建作為砲兵要塞使用。2000年六月七日公告為嘉義市之古蹟，2014年選定為嘉義市立美術館預定地；2016年委託設計監造，2018年進行增改建工程，2020年完工開館。

構造與工法的跨時代對話

隨著舊建築再利用成為重要的議題，不同時期興建的建築物，如何在小規模拆除擾動的前提下，在外觀與內部機能上賦予新意，引入新的設計理念與當代的材質構造，確實整合新舊建物的結構、構造與空間，以美術館經營與維護管理延續舊建築的生命，是本案舊建築再利用的主要挑戰。

由於阿里山林場木材集散及位於西部走廊的交通樞紐，嘉義市固有「木都」美名。曾是重要建築材料的木材，由於鋼筋混凝土（RC）技術的進步，在二十世紀後半逐漸退出台灣的營建產業鏈。但由於RC材料高碳排與壽命有限，與負碳排的木建材在生產技術上的飛躍性發展，二十一世紀的現在，融合兩種新舊建築材料進行改造的美術館，體現了重要的當代性意義：保留舊有的RC建築，輔以木構造改建以提高耐震性能及舒適性，回應嘉義「木都」的主題。

新建外牆工法上採用多層次實木結構積材（CLT）替代B棟西側、南側原RC外牆，除減輕建築百分之三十重量外，更大幅提高了隔熱性能。其外立面採用玻璃帷幕，使用相同的開口語彙，將A、B、C三棟的外立面意象串聯起來。面對廣場的方向，使用集成木樑柱新建挑高三層樓的大廳，加上大面積的結構玻璃立面，將美術館的入口轉向面對如「都市的客廳」般的景觀中庭。這樣的改造使原本沒有個性的開放空間－由面向不同的建築物併置後剩餘的空地，經由建築立面的重新整理後，轉變為具有個性與內聚性的景觀廣場，成為能夠留駐市民記憶的綠意空間。

Site

Chia-Yi Art Museum is an expansion project constructed on an existing historical preservation building site on No. 659 Chung-Shan Rd., Chia-Yi City, near Chia-Yi train station. The existing complex was composed of four buildings (A/B/C/D) used for Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation, Chia-Yi Branch Office. Building A was designated as a historical monument, the other three (B/C/D) were general buildings used as warehouses and a retail store.

Historical Features

Built in 1936 (Showa year 11) in the Japanese Colonial period, the existing site and 3-floor-tall reinforced concrete building A was mainly functioned as the Monopoly Bureau of Government of Taiwan, Chia-Yi Branch Office. It was designed by the architect Maizawa Shejiro, the building plan layout is L-shaped, orienting northwest by southeast. Building A has been a delicate witness of history, which materialized the architectural style transition from Neo-Classical to Modernism. Special features such as the rounded building corner, raised base platform, the elaborated horizontal opening lintel and floor lines, and the SCRATCH style exterior tiles, all well embodied the Eclecticism of the historical transition. The interior focal point is the “‎Hakkō ichiu” column located near the staircase, which is octagonal in plan, resembles the national motto of Japanese Militarism’s cosmic philosophy at the World War II. After the war, the building was used by Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. It was adapted as a battalion fortress during the 228 Incident, appointed as historical monument in July 7th, 2000. In 2014, the city chose the site for Chia-Yi Art Museum, the architectural design team was chosen in 2016, and the construction started in 2018, the museum will commence in the year 2020.

The time-transgressive dialogue between Construction and Tectonics

How to preserve and re-vitalize the historical buildings has been becoming an important issue nowadays, it is also a major challenge to minimize the disturbance of demolition and construction on existing site, yet to endow new perception and function to this project. We try to respond this challenge by introducing contemporary design concept and material to integrate the structures and spaces among the existing and the new constructions, so the life of the complex can be extended through the injection of museum management and maintenance as an integrated whole.

Chia-Yi City has been called “The Capital of Woods” due to the city’s pivoting location between Ali Mountain Forestry Center and its transportation corridor. Although the wood industry gradually withdrew from Taiwan’s building industry due to the thriving of reinforced concrete construction in 20th century, it is making a comeback in 21st century for wood’s negative carbon emission nature, and the leaping development of new production technics. Therefore our design strategy of incorporating the old (RC) and the new (Glulam & CLT) to improve the seismic performance and the amenities of the art museum, which not only puts the contemporary issues of reservation into practice, also corresponds to the theme of “The Capital of Woods”.

In order to reduce the structural load (30%) and to improve the thermal insulation performance, we demolished the south and west exterior walls of building B, replaced with cross laminated timber (CLT) wall with glass rain-screen curtain wall. All the opening vocabulary of the building complex are in similar proportion to maintain the consistency of the street façade. The new three-story-tall museum lobby is supported by glulam trusses and columns, and is enclosed by structural glass curtain wall. By placing the lobby entrance towards the re-landscaped courtyard, we turn the inner courtyard into an “Urban Living Room”, which is no longer the residual empty lots of building site, but an attractive and characteristic open space that can reside in every visitor’s memory.