Taipower D/S One’s “Discharging Field” illuminates the electric charm of technology.
Founded in 1946, Taiwan Power Company has been providing power to Taiwan for 77 years. Generally considered a rather staid and conservative state-run enterprise, the company began intense internal discussions about its future direction and standing in 2016. It initiated a document preservation program in that year, and has been hard at work reframing its image ever since.
Over the last few years, Taipower has demonstrated its artistic and cultural cachet by establishing a center for cultural research, co-sponsoring a French-style Nuit Blanche event, and making spaces available for public art installations. One of Taipower’s biggest achievements in this area is the green-energy exhibition space it opened in 2019 in its new building in the Xinban Special District, a development zone in Banqiao, New Taipei City. The space, dubbed Taipower D/S One, puts a creative and cultural spin on technology to give the venerable company’s image a more youthful and contemporary luster.
Taipower D/S One’s first-floor Powerlab aims to drive “energetic” innovation.
Reimagining electrical power
First time visitors to D/S One will find their eyes immediately drawn to the metal-walled cube that stands outside the main building. Dubbed the “urban light well,” the art installation reflects light from its metal walls during the day, and at night lights up with interactive LED animations that represent Taiwan’s daily solar, wind and hydro power output. Visitors already familiar with D/S One will likely head straight to the second-floor reception desk to pick up an “energy bracelet” on their way to the wonderful Energym. There, they can convert their sweat into electrical energy and brighten their mood by pedaling a stationary bike, shooting baskets, bouncing side to side on the “hydraulic jump,” or even doing a bit of “greenhouse yoga.”
Yuan Mei-ling, Taipower’s public relations director, explains Taipower’s goal for D/S One: “It provides great exhibits depicting how green energy will look and what it will be in the future, in the hope that the public will come to understand and embrace green power.” The Energym aims to foster understanding of renewable energy by using fun physical activities to demonstrate the principle behind each type. For example, the “hydraulic jump” bouncing activity shows how wind power works by triggering small fans mounted on the ceiling. Pedaling a stationary bike illustrates the mechanisms of geothermal power by stirring virtual magma. When a cyclist reaches their exercise goal, the magma generates geothermal steam that is then converted into power.
The first floor of D/S One features its popular six-axis virtual-reality robot, which takes visitors on a bird’s-eye first-person-view journey from D/S One to the wind power farm located in Taichung’s Gaomei Wetlands. Visitors ride the wind all the way there, see a real wind turbine up close, and then follow along as a maintenance worker checks over the tower. It’s a remarkable experience. Yuan says that fans built into the robot’s handles take the experience to another level by adding a tactile dimension to the ride’s visual and auditory elements.
Art meets technology
As a forum for interacting with the public, D/S One strives to be a comfortable space. One of the first things you notice on entering is the calm atmosphere created by its minimalist design. As you climb the stairs, an array of large white objects hanging from the high ceiling catches your eye. Collectively an art installation called Yinyun, each element in the array is 3D printed from white porcelain and recycled coal ash and decorated with a pattern derived from electric power data. The work, which earned artist Kamm Kai Yu a bronze A’ Design Award, transforms invisible electrical energy into sculpture, and reuses coal ash to illustrate the value of the circular economy. D/S One’s second floor houses temporary installations such as Faramita, a work by Lin Shu-yu that uses flowing water to open a mechanical flower as a way to represent the process by which water generates renewable power. Viewers are invited to pour water into the installation’s mechanism, triggering a process that demonstrates the relationship between energy and the lifecycle of a flower, and the coexistence of nature and technology.
Knowledge-seeking visitors will find that the first-floor Powerlab suits them to a T—the area holds workshops at least once a month. The last term’s hands-on excursions into energy aesthetics included using a lollipop to make sounds, a windmill-powered weightlifting competition, and even the use of clothing to control devices. The exceptionally creative space provides visitors with new sensory experiences through a variety of different media and activities. D/S One has also produced green-energy materials for educators that include a project to help children understand the process by which wind energy is converted to electrical power. The project guides children through the assembly of a model wind turbine that turns when blown, powering the lights in a model “sustainable home.”
“Our goal is to build a future-oriented co-creation platform using a cross-disciplinary workshop model that will enable creators in different fields to experiment and innovate in finding ways to expand green energy applications. More immediately, we are actively promoting education to deepen children’s awareness of renewable energy.” Taipower’s Yuan Mei-ling says that more than 100,000 people have visited D/S One since it opened, and that more than 10,000 have taken part in the exhibition space’s activities and events. She adds that the facility also continues to engage with nearby schools via activities and workshops that spread understanding of renewable energy.
This six-axis VR robot takes riders on an immersive virtual flight.
Innovation and communication
“Changing how people think is crucial to sustainable development. That’s why Taipower is working hard to create opportunities for dialogue.” Yuan believes that D/S One is an important part of this effort. This year, for example, D/S One is working with a science teachers’ group sponsored by the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education (MOE), and with Za Share, Taiwan’s largest innovative education enterprise, to develop three brand-new educational tools to bring green energy education to all of Taiwan’s elementary, middle, and high schools, its universities, and the general public. In addition, D/S One is working with Banqiao Senior High School, Xinban Special District schools, and local government to establish the Design and Technology Alliance, which will promote living-technology courses.
Named one of Taiwan’s “Ten Science Bases” at the MOE’s first Taiwan Science Festival in 2020, D/S One has cooperated with Young Scientist Monthly on a “wind catcher” project that enabled children to build their own anemometer, and with Mr. Sci Science Factory on an event that showed attendees how to make their own Wardian case terrariums. These hands-on science-focused activities earned D/S One first prize in the education promotion category of Global Views Monthly’s annual Corporate Social Responsibility Awards in 2021.
Because D/S One is Taiwan’s first renewable energy exhibition space and Taipower’s first branded venue, the company asked Cogitoimage for help with project planning. Taipower also worked with a number of designers and media companies, including Professor Kung Shu-chang from National Chiao Tung University’s Graduate Institute of Architecture, and Tony K.M. Chang, a former CEO of the Taiwan Design Center (now the Taiwan Design Research Institute). D/S One’s many international accolades, including a 2020 Red Dot Design Award, a 2020 MUSE Award (Onsite Digital Experience) from the American Alliance of Museums, and a 2021 MUSE Design Award (Exhibition Experience, Experiential & Immersive) from International Awards Associate (IAA), have given Taipower the confidence to follow up with a D/S Two and perhaps even a D/S Three.
“Taipower hopes that the D/S brand will become Taiwan’s premier renewable energy education center, introducing environmental thinking and the concept of energy transition to help build a sustainable future for our island.” Smiling, Yuan adds that the nearer-term hope is that Taipower D/S One becomes a favorite leisure-time destination, one that allows people to jointly explore renewable energy experiments and the aesthetics of an electrified life, and charms them with its merging of the creative and cultural with green energy technology.
For more pictures, please click《The Electric Charm of Green Tech: Taipower D/S One》
