From Fire to Water—The National Museum of Marine Science and Technology Opens in an Old Power Plant

When a cold front swept into Taiwan on January 9, throngs of railway buffs braved wet and frigid weather to journey to Keelung at the northern extremity of Taiwan, so as to experience for themselves the rebirth of the Shen’ao line, which is known as the “most beautiful branch line in Taiwan.”

At 11 a.m., a train with cars painted with marine images pulled slowly into the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology Station, the line’s terminus at Kee­lung’s Ba­douzi Fishing Harbor. Local grandmas and grandpas who had been eagerly anticipating this moment for years couldn’t help but shed tears of joy.

Built for hauling coal, the line was completed in 1936 and closed in 1989 when the coastal highway opened. Its reopening triggered memories of these seniors’ youths. Today the line serves as an extension to a transit system that brings visitors to the museum.

The life-size model of a whale skeleton in the Wonders of the Deep Sea Gallery helps to shed light on “whale carcass ecosystems,” a topic most people know little about.

The museum’s opening was a key factor in the line’s ­revival.

The museum is notable for its firsts: It’s the first museum in Taiwan using a remodeled historical building, and the first maritime museum anywhere with combined emphases on science, shipbuilding, marine ecosystems, culture, fisheries, and local research.

It also represents the first time in Taiwan that the “museum city” approach has been taken: There are no walls enclosing the 54-hectare museum complex, and it also isn’t located in a single building like other museums in Taiwan. Instead, the various museum facilities are scattered in different places around the fishing harbors of Ba­douzi and Chang­tanli.

The exhibition building that attracts the most attention is the Main Exhibition Building, housed in what was once Taiwan Power Company’s northern Taiwan coal-fired power plant, originally constructed in the 1930s. Next door, the IMAX Marine Theater boasts Taiwan’s largest IMAX screen, and across the street one finds the Regional Exploration Building mixed in among residential buildings.

When the weather is good, those strolling along the coast can even reach the Chaojing Ocean Center and Chaojing Park, a favorite spot for vacation day outings. After 20 years of restoration, what had been a stinky landfill has been turned into a verdant coastal park.

Shih Tung-wei, the museum’s head curator and chair of its research and planning committee, notes that there has been a growing trend in Europe and the Americas away from isolated museum complexes and toward museums integrated into the urban fabric, but there hadn’t been a good example of such a museum in Taiwan before now. The integration of the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology into the Ba­douzi neighborhood truly represents a milestone for museum planning here.

The People and the Sea Gallery introduces all manner of maritime customs and cultural beliefs. Here a museum guide holds the attention of youngsters as she explains the grand spectacle of a Mazu pilgrimage.

The concept behind the NMMST is innovative, but the planning process aimed at bringing the museum into being suffered its share of setbacks. A total of 24 years passed from conception to opening.

In 1979 the Executive Yuan announced plans for 12 construction projects, among them a museum of marine science, which was cited as an important cultural facility.

The museum was originally to be based around the dual themes of marine biology and marine technology, but for the sake of more balanced development between northern and southern Taiwan, the themes were split. The former was assigned to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Ping­tung’s Che­cheng Township and the latter to the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Ba­douzi.

Whereas the NMMBA opened in 2000, it wasn’t until 2013 that the NMMST was able to open its doors. Why the gap of more than a decade?

Shih points out that back in 1993 Kee­lung—with its fishing harbors, shipping port, shipyards, Fisheries Research Institute, and National Taiwan Ocean University—was an easy choice for the museum’s location. Placed here, it can integrate the latest academic and industrial developments and can serve as a wonderful platform for science education.

Although clearly in the lead in terms of ability to project “soft power” related to marine science, Kee­lung came up short in terms of physical infrastructure. Not only were roadways here too narrow and prone to congestion, but museum planners also couldn’t find a suitable public-owned site. These were major hurdles to construction.

The Kids’ Exploration Zone features experiential installations of seafloor ecologies. Children can compare their heights to the lengths of aquatic creatures such as giant crabs, tuna and mahi-mahi. It’s all quite captivating.

In 2004 the Executive Yuan elected to make a real estate swap—formally giving land at the western edge of Kee­lung Harbor owned by the National Property Administration (on which the ­Xiehe power plant had already been built) to Taiwan Power in exchange for the site of its old coal-fired Northern Power Plant. At last the museum had found a home.

Taipower’s Northern Power Plant has an illustrious history­ and served the nation well over the course of many decades. The company’s Japanese-era predecessor began planning for the plant in 1937. The Japanese engineers behind the plant’s design and construction made use of the water channel between Badouzi Island and Taiwan proper to proceed with land reclamation that provided enough room to site the plant. At its completion, it was Asia’s most advanced power plant.

In 1953, a second phase of expansion was completed to raise its capacity. For several decades the plant made great contributions to society by providing power and employment opportunities to the people of northern Taiwan. The plant ceased operations in 1981 as a result of the decline in coal production in northeast Taiwan.

From a distance at night, the many points of light passing through the museum’s glass curtain walls and perforated metal panels suggest a furnace burning coal. It’s an image that brings to mind the building’s past as a coal-fired power plant.

To convert a historically significant former power plant to a new use, the museum hired J.M. Lin, winner of numerous international architecture awards.

Lin points out that the Northern Power Plant included two separate structures: the original 1930s building and the 1950s addition that was constructed by the ROC government. The former was made from steel-reinforced concrete, which is suited to strengthening with modern construction technology. The latter, however, was steel construction only, and not up to modern safety standards.

After meticulous assessments and work to bolster the structure, Lin was able to save 35% of the 1930s building, which serves as the museum’s lobby and signature interior space. As soon as visitors enter the museum, they see the massive reinforced concrete pillars, which summon memories of the site’s history. The 32-meter-high ceilings of the lobby also capture a sense of the spatial beauty of the preexisting architecture.

Lin designed the new exterior walls to match the measurements and proportions of the original structure, but he opted not to use materials that didn’t let light pass through, instead installing dark-brown perforated aluminum panels over glass curtain walls in the part of the building that was the old power plant.

In this manner, the exterior of the building looks no different from the old building, but the perforated metal panels let daylight flood into the lobby. When the artificial lights go on at night, the glowing building resembles a furnace burning coal, prompting memories of its industrial past.

As for the 1950s structure, although most of it was torn down due to safety considerations, Lin was able to retain the eye-catching main steel structure. He also rebuilt two coal hoppers on the structure, offering another nod to the building’s history.

In the Fishery Science Gallery visitors learn about Taiwan’s world-leading techniques in the breeding and propagation of GloFish, Taiwan tilapia and Karasumi mullet. Taiwan’s aquaculture industry is internationally renowned.

Apart from respecting the building’s past, Lin also added various design touches appropriate to the museum’s maritime themes. For instance, in rest areas and stairwells he has placed some irregularly sized round mirrors that reflect light differently depending upon the angle from which they are viewed. The effect suggests being surrounded by shimmering bubbles under the sea. And specially manufactured bricks embedded with round pieces of glass and images of numerous small fish point the way to the next exhibition. Intrigued visitors become like travelers to the bottom of the ocean, led by schools of fish to tour various realms of aquatic knowledge.

Lin paid even more attention to the special climatic features of Keelung, which is known as “the rainy city,” making extensive use of pebble dash in the exterior walls. The interplay of white, grey, and black in these walls provides visual interest. Even rain doesn’t distract from the exterior’s appearance, but rather creates interesting variations of light and dark.

“This is a work of marine architecture suited to rainy days,” says Lin with great feeling.

For embracing both the local environment and the historical context, the museum design won the 2013 Urban Design Honor Award from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It was a well-deserved honor.

The museum’s exhibition spaces demonstrate great ingenuity. The eggs of red drum fish, clown fish and giant river prawns have been transformed into colorful installations.

In the museum’s nine large exhibition halls, ample use is made of videos and interactive games so as to keep visitors engaged and having fun.

For instance, the Marine Environment Gallery has realistic recreations of various aquatic environments in Taiwan, such as coastal cliffs, lagoons, wetlands, and estuarine mangrove forests. The museum guides visitors to discover all kinds of wildlife hidden in such environments and gain knowledge about them.

The Wonders of the Deep Sea Gallery is placed in a unique space: the boiler room of Taipower’s old power plant. There the ocean depths are simulated with models of large whale skeletons. Whale carcass eco­systems are one of the lesser-known features of the deep sea. When whales die, their carcasses sink to the bottom of the ocean, where they remain for decades, supporting colonies of shrimp, crabs, deep-water fish, mollusks, and micro­organ­isms.

In the Fishery Science Gallery, visitors can use interactive games to experience different commercial fishing techniques, including seining and harpooning. They can learn about Taiwan’s world-leading techniques for propagating Glo­Fish, Taiwan tilapia, Ka­ra­sumi mullet and other species. There is also discussion of important topics such as how humanity can enjoy marine resources without destroying them.

Jeng Ming-­shiou, a research fellow at the Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center, has high hopes for the museum. With great earnestness, he says that although Taiwan is surrounded by the sea, its people have long demonstrated understanding about land rights but not about sea rights. And the public, he notes, is even more ignorant about Taiwan’s various marine environments.

Through education, the people of Taiwan must learn how to pass along a sustainable maritime culture to future generations. The opening of the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology is a good start.

The round mirrors on the walls of the museum reflect light differently depending on the angle from which they are viewed. Holes have also been cut into the I-beams supporting the building’s glass curtain walls. The combined effect creates a sense of being surrounded by shimmering bubbles at the bottom of the sea.