太平國小站立在港西山頭，可說是基隆港都興盛衰敗的見證者。六十年代因應西岸碼頭工人孩子的就學而創立，隨著產業轉型、人口外移與少子化，於2017廢校。在這迂迴迷宮似的山城，我們想像了一條連接山與海的路徑：從港灣碼頭出發、經由113巷沿著路標踏階而上，穿過太平國小抵達山後的登山步道，串聯城市與山林、人工與自然。

第一個動作是拆除圍牆，讓原本封閉的校區成為迎接市民的公共場域。新置入的建築元素均為木構造：一座外掛的樓梯，引發人們登高的慾望，一座屋頂的瞭望亭回望這整座港灣，聽遊輪入港的聲音；一座十八米的空橋連接後方的登山步道。原始校舍有著清晰的結構韻律，以兩座樓梯區分為前、中、後三段。靠近入口的前段空間置入活化機能作為書店，呼應學校知識傳遞的功能，我們打通部份樓板及牆面，讓空間流動、讓山色漫入，書店是這座城市的閱覽室，迎接人們的大客廳。學校留下來的舊有課桌椅作為閱讀和休憩使用，和如織的遊客產生一種新的詩意連結。後段空間保留前幾年市府輕量改造的活化基地。中段空間則「廢墟化」場景，敲除樓板、鋁門窗、局部牆面及地面層的教室台度，延續廣場鋪面到建築體內，刻意模糊內與外的邊界。山林和城市、過去和現在，均於此交會。老舊的黑板、斑駁的色彩、最初始的空間肌理，經由充滿敬意的態度敲除而被揭露，反而得再一次地被慎重凝視。走在從前孩童嬉鬧的走廊，進到以前授課的教室，個人的記憶被召喚滙入集體的記憶，成為社會整體潛意識。但願一個小學校舍的再生，能創造一條新的共生路徑、一個探索山海匯聚的通道，也是我們重新回看港灣歷史、想像城市未來的美麗平台。

The Taiping Elementary School stands on a hilltop west of the Keelung Harbor, a witness to the growth and the decline of the surrounding area. Founded in the 1960s to school the children of dock workers on the west bank, it was closed in 2017 due to industrial transformation, population shifts, and a declining birthrate. In this mountain town, where streets wind like a labyrinth, we envisioned a path that would connect the mountains and the sea — starting from the harbor docks, following the street signs and ascending the stairs along Lane 113, then crossing the school grounds to the hiking trail behind the mountain. Such a path would connect the city with the mountain forests, and the natural world with the artificial.

The first step was tearing down the walls so that the school grounds, originally closed, would become a public area welcoming local citizens. All the newly installed architectural elements are wooden structures: an external staircase, stimulating peoples' desire to climb upwards; an observation platform on the roof, where one can look over the entire harbor and listen to the sound of cruise ships entering; and an 18-meter air bridge that connects to the hiking trail behind. The original school building had a clear structural rhythm, divided into front, middle and rear sections by two staircases. To help revitalize the structure, a bookstore, echoing the school's function in transmitting knowledge, was placed in a space near the front entrance, and some flooring and wall sections were removed to create a better flow in the space and to let in a view of the mountains. The bookstore will serve as the city's reading room, a large living room to welcome its people. The old desks and chairs left at the school will be used for reading and rest, creating a new poetic connection with the streams of tourists. The rear area retains a section that was regenerated for office use after light renovation by the city government. The middle section was more or less "in ruins," and more floor sections, aluminum doors and windows, and parts of ground-floor walls and classrooms were knocked out; this extended the courtyard surface into the building's interior, deliberately blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior. Mountains and cities, past and present, all meet here. It was with a most respectful attitude that parts of the original structure were knocked out, so that the old blackboards, the mottled colors, and the original spatial textures were revealed, and they once again became the subject of careful attention. Walking in the corridors where children once played noisily, and entering the classrooms where they once were taught, summons up individual memories, which then merge into our collective memory as part of the subconscious mind of the society as a whole. We hope that by regenerating this elementary school building, it will create a pathway for a new kind of symbiosis, an avenue through which to explore the convergence of mountains and seas, and a beautiful platform that lets us look back at the harbor's history and imagine the city's future.