The Neiweipi Cultural Park

The Neiweipi Culture Park is situated in the northwestern part of Kaohsiung City, within the original limits of the Neiweipi District. Defined by the natural topography, it combines mountains and water, and preserves rare wetlands areas. Sheltered by Kui Shan (Turtle Mountain) and Mt. Panping on north, the park adjoins Shou Shan (Mt. Longevity) on the west. The Love River flows nearby, creating a picturesque water and mountain landscape. The Culture Park covers roughly 41 hectares of land, and is bordered by Kansu Road, Meishukuan Road, Makuatao Road and Mingcheng Road. The brainchild of architects Lu You-yi and Chen Po-sen, the park has spent 17 years in the process of planning, design, and construction. Planning began in 1986, and the first phase of construction started in 1989.

This phase of construction was completed in 1994 with the completion of the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA). The second phase of work on the park began in September of 1999 and was completed in August 2001. This phase saw work carried out throughout the park to make it more natural, including the building of a lake, planting trees in the park.

The last phase began in mid-2002 and is scheduled to be completed during 2003. This stage, which will develop the entire area, includes the construction of an outdoor stage, multistory parking garage, observation tower, covered walkway, service center, and firefly conservation area. The Neiweipi Culture Park will be linked with the KMFA, offering people a multipurpose park where they can enjoy art, culture, leisure and ecology at the same time.

Below are some of the park's natural features:

I. Deep Historical Roots

The word "Neiwei," which can be translated as "inner defense," refers to the earthen walls or bamboo palisades used to protect villages from brigands during the Qing Dynasty. Early historical records concerning the Kaohsiung region relate that the Neiwei got its name when the county authorities stationed troops there to protect the area. The Japanese colonial rulers changed one of the characters composing this name in 1920. Structures built in early Taiwan to divert or hold water for irrigation purposes, particularly along the lower Tamsui River, were termed "pi" or "po." In the Kaohsiung area, ditches constructed of sandbags were employed to divert water to Lienchih Lake, from where it flowed to Neiweipi for storage. Originally 32 hectares in area, Neiweipi provided water for irrigation and was used to raise lotuses, water caltrops, and fish. Neiweipi was once second in importance only to Lienchih Lake among Kaohsiung-area lakes.

In early days the people living in the Neiwei area mostly belonged to the Chen, Li, and Lin families. These families traced their ancestors back to the Zhangzhou, Anxi, and Longxi regions of China. Neiweipi Cultural Park is located in Lungshui Li, Kushan District. Agriculture and industry are the economic mainstays of the area, and local products include plywood, steel, rice, and water caltrops. Neiweipi has long since lost its original appearance, and is now the site of the KMFA.

2. Climate

The average annual temperature of the region is 24.2 ° C, with an average of 55% sunshine. The climate is very sunny and humid.

3. Soil Type

The area is characterized by alluvial soils containing mostly layers of heavy clay. The bedrock of the surrounding area is composed of the limestone and coral reef of Shou Shan, Kuei Shan, and Mt. Panping, which has helped shape the natural environment of the Kaohsiung area.

4. Mountains and Water

Towering Shou Shan, running generally north-south, is a symbol of Kaohsiung City. Sheltering the northwest and west of Kaohsiung, Shou Shan looks west over the Taiwan Strait and protects the mouth of Kaohsiung Harbor. Shou Shan, the extension of the canal linking Tsoying District to Lotus Lake, and the Kuei Shan and Mt. Panping form an appealing natural landscape attracting many visitors, and also help store and regulate water for irrigation and other purposes.

5. Resident and Migratory Birds

This area and Chengching Lake on the eastern side of the city are both important habitats for migratory birds. The majority of the migratory birds here, such as ducks and shrikes, have come from Siberia. Other commonly seen birds are black drongos, egrets, Japanese white-eyes, Chinese bulbuls, sparrows, Philippine mynas, pacific swallows, barn swallows, white-breasted water hens, and magpies, etc.

6. Unusual and rare trees

In order to provide people with a shady, relaxing environment, small-leafed olive bark trees have been planted along the path surrounding the park. These trees have already turned into a small forest casting a cool shade. Two rare hybrid willow trees growing by the lake, where a wetlands area will be, add to the beauty of the park.

7. Park Areas

Neiweipi Cultural Park contains the following seven areas: (1) Museum of Fine Arts (Phase 1), (2) sculpture park (Phase 1), (3) ecology park (Phase 2), (4) entrance plaza (Phase 3), (5) service center (Phase 3), (6) multistory parking facility (Phase 3), and (7) Jung Chang Ironworks (uncompleted).

(1) Museum of Fine Arts

1. Museum building

The museum building has four aboveground floors, one underground floor, and lofted ceilings. The museum contains a northern lobby, a sculpture hall, 16 solo exhibition rooms, two multipurpose rooms, and various public activity areas such as a library dedicated to collection art materials, a lecture hall accommodating 392 persons, and an art resources classroom. There is also an administrative area and collection areas used by museum personnel. To facilitate management of the various areas and use at different times, all have their own independent entrances. With more than 26,000 m 2 of display area, the museum is the largest museum of fine art in southern Taiwan.

2. Outdoors space

To create an urban cultural park in harmony with nature, an extensive effort was made to utilize existing discrete spaces and lines of motion to give the park an artistic ambience. The design of the park proceeds from the outermost periphery inward to the sculpture park, round plaza, covered walkway, and finally to the museum. The following is a description of these different elements:

a.) Perimeter

Since the outer area, or perimeter, is the first impression that a person has of the museum park, emphasis was placed on creating a sculptural atmosphere. The museum was positioned to connect the atmosphere of the art park with leisure activities in the surrounding area. Controlling the view of the horizon was taken into consideration when landscaping nearby areas.

b.) Park Walkways and Leisure Facilities

Visitors to the museum park require straightforward yet informal guidance plus a sense of comfort and relaxation. As a result, after visitors entering the park through the entrance plaza see easily-readable signs showing the way to the Museum and leisure facilities. The clearly marked sidewalks and walkways were designed with leisure and scenery in mind and are coordinated with the locations of rest areas, public restrooms, and seats.

c.) Semi-Circular Outdoor Plaza and Covered Walkway

This round plaza adjacent to the museum building was designed for convenience, practicality, and proximity to relevant activities. The plaza is enclosed on one side by a covered walkway that provides shelter and a direct path to the studio classrooms and auditorium inside. Activities inside and outside the building are thus linked together through versatile and efficient use of space.

(2) Sculpture Park

Mainly developed during Phase 1, the sculpture park encompasses the lawn behind the museum's administrative area and the southwestern part of the park. The sculpture park takes advantage of its different types of scenery, including groves and lawns, to display a wide variety of sculpture in diverse settings. The works of sculpture displayed here are mainly from the 1992 "First Kaohsiung International Sculpture Workshop," the 1993 "Environmental Positioning, Revisiting Neiweipi Sculpture Contest," the "1995 Kaohsiung International Sculpture Workshop," and the museum's collection of large works. The total of 25 works in the park lend a distinctively aesthetic mood to the area. Eighteen of the works are actually located in the sculpture park, while the remaining seven are located in the first and second phase areas of the ecology park.

(3) Ecology park

The ecology park features a lake, a small island, a marsh, an observation platform, a forest area, and footpaths. The lake and its bank showcase the concept of ecological restoration: The bank was made by laying down pebbles and grass turf in its grassy areas, emplacing a dense array of Southern Pine (rot resistant) pilings in its wooden piling areas, and setting blocks of Fengkang Stone and Hualien Aragonite in a natural, overlapping pattern in its rocky areas. The many crevices between the stones in the banks provide a habitat for many kinds of organisms. A 30 cm layer of natural sand and gravel has been placed over a layer of clay lining the bottom of the lake, and a 20 cm layer of pebbles covers the banks.

(4) Entrance plaza

The entrance plaza extends the concept of the semicircular walkway at the museum, and serves to shelter activities, accommodate gatherings, and create a distinct space. The fountain and lights in the center of the plaza are used on special occasions, and well-designed public toilets are available for the convenience of visitors.

(5) Service center

The service center provides the public with a rest spot along one of the park's major thoroughfares. Designed to look compact, the service center building features grassy platforms in a stairstep arrangement that brings the vegetation from the ground up to the roof.

(6) Multistory parking facility

The concealed, recessed design of the parking facility makes it less oppressive to pedestrians, and it also builds on the park's environmental protection concept. The soil removed during excavation work has been used to cover the back of the parking building and create a small hill that blends with the environment and avoids an out-of-place sensation.

(7) Jung Chang Ironworks

Kaohsiung's steel industry began here. But since the land was appropriated and the factory torn down, the ironworks has been preserved only in token form. Plans are still being made concerning how to best use the site and renovate existing structures.

Note: The above information was taken from the New Construction Office, Kaohsiung City Government Bureau of Public Works: Report on the Neiweipi Cultural Park Museum Park.