Who we are
Asia University founders Tsai Changhai, Lin Tsenglien and Board of Trustees established Taichung Healthcare and Management College in 2001. Within four years, it was upgraded as Asia Univeristy. Aware of the general scarcity of resources on school campuses in Taiwan and the relatively few chances for students to have contact with art works, Dr. Tsai hoped to influence students through the environment and give them the opportunity to accumulate aesthetic experiences to cultivate their characters.
On May 4, 2007, Dr. Tsai presented the project plan and officially invited Mr. Tadao Ando to design an art museum for Asia University. Therefore, the main purpose of inviting Tadao Ando to design the museum was to educate students and create the opportunity for them to have contact with art works from masters of international status.
In Sep. 2013, the museum was officially named Asia University Museum of Modern Art.
Director
Dr.LEE Yulin Director
∕ Education
∕ Present
∕ Experience
∕ Foreign Institutions
Deputy Director
TSAI Ming-Jiun Deputy Director
∕ Education
MFA in Curating, Department of Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UKMFA in Fine Art, Department of Fine Arts, The College of Fine Arts and Creative
Design, Tunghai University, Taichung, TAIWAN
∕ Present
Deputy Director of Asia University Museum of Modern ArtAssistant Professor of Center for General Education of Asia University
∕ Experience (selected)
Assistant Professor (Full-time), Department of Fine Arts, Tunghai University, TAIWAN
2021 - 2023 Regional Representative, Mekong Cultural Hub, TAIWAN
2023 Chief Curator, Listening to the Overtones of Fissures - Green Island Human
Rights Art Festival, TAIWAN
2021 Co-curator, A Rhythm of Tree Forming the Forest, Chiayi Art Musuem, TAIWAN
2020 Co-Curator, Survival of the exceptional, Tainan Art Museum, TAIWAN
2020 Co-planner, Arts of Coming Down to Earth in ‘Taipei Biennial 2020 - You can I
Don’t Live on the Same Planet’, TAIWAN
2019 Curator, The Desired End of Spirit – Lee Chu-Hsin Solo Exhibition, Yu-Hisu
Museum of art, TAIWAN
2019 Co-Curator, 2019 Madou Sugar Industry Art Triennial, TAIWAN
2017 Co-curator, Post-Ecolonialism Project – Practice Rooted in Communities, TAIWAN
2016 Creative Director, I Land – a collaborative performance, Asian Cultural
Council, New York City, U.S.A
2016 Curator, Situation of existence – Contemporary realistic art in East Asia, Yu
Hsiu Museum of Art, TAIWAN
2014 Curator, RE EXHIBITING & RE WRITING : Hantoo Art Group, TAIWAN
2013 Curator, To Be Continued at ‘Intersecting Vectors – Experimental Projects
from the TFAM Collection’, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, TAIWAN
Architecture
Design by Architect Tadao Ando, the equilateral triangle is adopted as the basic element. Innumerous numbers of equilateral triangles are stacked up irregularly to form the three stories of the building. The atrium space created with the crisscrossing arrangement and outdoor terraces function as the sculpture display and outdoor café areas.
To cope with the conditions of being in a seismically active area, no vertical pillars are used. Behind the glass curtain wall are the V-shaped columns that are used for compression in most places, and for tension where the top floor of the museum is extended and cantilevered to form a shelter for the entrance plaza below.
The exterior of this avant-garde and challenging architectural design is low-key peaceful and pure, while the interior is precise and calm. It is the intention of Tadao Ando to allow people, art and nature to meet and have dialog here.
Timeline
Launch
∕ 2013.10.24
∕ 2013.10.23
Test operation
∕ 2013.09.28
Construction completion
∕ 2013.09.04
Inspection and acception
∕ 2013.07.31
∕ 2013.06.09
∕ 2013.06.08
∕ 2013.06.06
∕ 2013.05.27
∕ 2013.05.17
∕ 2013.03.29
∕ 2013.01-15
∕ 2013.01-15
The main part of the building was completed
∕ 2012.11.23
∕ 2012.11.20-21
∕2012.07.20
∕2012.07.18
∕2012.06.14
∕2012.05.30
∕2011.12.20-2012.01-20
∕2012.01.06
∕2011.12.03
∕2011.11.26
∕2011.11.09
∕2011.10.18
∕2011.10.15
∕2011.10.11
∕2011.07.02
∕2011.05.05
Start
∕2011.01.24
∕2011.01.02
Final model and construction model
∕2010.12.22-25
∕2010.10.29
∕2010.10.18
∕2010.03.31
∕2010.03.17
∕2009.12.23
∕2009.09.25
∕2009.04.05
∕2009.02.18-21
∕2008.12.22
Detailed design documents
∕2008.11.25
∕2008.07.22
∕2008.04.21
Design development
∕2008.04.21
∕2008.03.03-06
∕2008.01.10
Schematic design
∕2008.01.09
∕2007.12.28
∕2007.12.22
∕2007.10.25
∕2007.08.07
∕2007.08.06
∕2007.06.09
∕2007.05.04
【Architectural Exhibition of Ando Tadao 】
Asia University Museum of Modern Art is composed of fair-faced concrete and glass curtain walls, with an indoor area of 4,112 square meters and an outdoor area of 19,834 square meters. Following architect Mr. Tadao Ando’s concept, equilateral triangle is the basic design element, which represents humanity, environment and architecture. This extremely simple yet symbolic shape is displaced and stacked in three dimensions and planes to produce complex and diverse spaces and scenes, as well as a spiral-like viewing flow-line.
Although the equilateral triangular shape seems simple, it is a challenging structure from the architectural point of view. In response to the geographical conditions of the Wufeng earthquake zone, the museum is supported by V-shaped pillars. These V-shaped pillars not only have strong visual characteristics and strengthen the aesthetic image of the equilateral triangle shape, but also resist the lateral forces and vertical loads of earthquakes, meeting the structural requirements of seismic resistance.
Another major feature of the museum is the delicate fair-faced concrete almost in a homogeneous texture. In order to achieve the "world's highest standard of fair-faced concrete construction" established by Mr. Ando in Osaka, Japan, the construction of the museum was carried out under the guidance of on- site supervisors from a Japanese construction company and Japanese formwork craftsmen. With the cooperation of the Taiwan-Japan joint construction team, the construction passed the "Osaka Standard" selection in the third bidding, and ocially broke ground in 2011.
Timeline
2007.05.04
Founder Mr. Chang-Hai Tsai sent a formal invitation letter to Mr. Tadao Ando for architectural design of the Museum.
2007.06.09
Founder Tsai waited for nearly 6 hours at the Taipei Arena for Mr. Ando's 1 minute of free time(after his speech to thirteen thousand people) to personally request his favor.
2007.08.17
Founder Tsai invited Mr. Kris Yao to be the "Executive Local Architect".
2008.03.03
Co-organized "2008 Ando Trip" with Mr. Ando's office.
2008.04.21
Co-organized “the Tadao Ando Lecture” with Taichung City Government.
2010.10.29
A Taiwan-Japan joint team passed the "Osaka standards" requirements in the committee's first and second evaluation rounds.
2011.01.24
The groundbreaking ceremony was held.
2011.10.15
Sponsored by the Chang-hai Tsai Education Foundation, the Asia University supervised and Eslite Bookstore organized the Construction Site Exhibition.
2012.11.20
Organized the 2012 University Museums Symposium on Global Collaboration in which directors of museums/arts centers from Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, Tokyo, and Asia University.
2012.11.23
The main part of the building was completed. Mr. Ando completed the inspection and affirmed that the construction was high quality.
2013.01.31
The 100th construction-site meeting was held.
2013.05.17
When conducting the final inspection and acceptance, Mr. Miura commented the concrete floors were not satisfactory. To obtain the best quality, Founder Mr. Tsai decided to redo the floors.
2013.06.06
Artech Architects, founded by Kris Yao, organized a Practical Construction Workshop, sharing the construction and supervision processes with the public.
2013.07.31
The inspection and acceptance was completed.
2013.10.23
Invited Mr. Ando to speak at the Museum Opening Speech hosted in The Grand Hotel in Taipei.
2013.10.24
The Grand Opening Ceremony was partaken by more than 750 distinguished guests from local and abroad, including the then Taiwan President Ying-Jeou Ma, the then Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu,Ms. Chiung-wei Wu Lin (wife of Mr. Lin, co-founder of Asia University), President of the Asia University Jeffrey J.P. Tsai in the presence of founder Mr. Chang-Hai Tsai and Mr. Tadao Ando.