cheng tsung feng's timber installation reimagines taiwanese architecture as a seafaring fleet

‘Sailing Castle’ installation arrives in Tainan

Taiwanese artist Cheng Tsung Feng brings his Sailing Castle installation to the historic West Central District of Tainan, where the work rises along the city’s canals near the site of a former shipyard from the Japanese colonial period. Conceived as an architectural fleet frozen at sea, the large-scale timber structure reinterprets the cityscape as a constellation of ships, reflecting on Tainan’s four centuries of Han cultural history. Through its layered wooden sails, the installation invites visitors to experience the city’s architectural heritage as a voyage that moves simultaneously across time, memory, and place.

all images courtesy of Cheng Tsung Feng

Cheng Tsung FENG shapes light, wind, and memory

With Sailing Castle, Cheng Tsung Feng crystallizes the silhouettes of city skylines into sculptural form. The Taiwanese artist reimagines architectural profiles as sails, transforming recognizable structures into components of a poetic fleet. For this Tainan edition, the artist drew inspiration from local landmarks such as Fort Zeelandia, Chihkan Tower, Confucius Temple, Nankunshen Daitian Temple, and Anping Kaitai Tianhou Temple. Rooflines, fortress walls, columns, and gables merge into the wooden structure, their outlines reinterpreted as overlapping sails that rise into a dynamic yet harmonious composition.

By day, the timber sails catch natural light and project a sense of vitality; by night, the structure shimmers with illumination, casting a glowing silhouette against the waterfront that recalls both the historic skyline and the spirit of maritime journeys. Visitors are encouraged to walk among the sails, pause on integrated seating, and feel the wind passing through the wooden lattice. This experience evokes the sensation of boarding a ship ready to depart. More than a visual statement, the work becomes a tactile and atmospheric encounter: a place of congregation, a site of transition, and a poetic reimagining of urban space.

Sailing Castle is conceived as an architectural fleet frozen at sea

the artist reimagines the ctiy’s architectural profiles as sails

rooflines, fortress walls, columns, and gables merge into the wooden structure

their outlines are reinterpreted as overlapping sails that rise into a dynamic yet harmonious composition

at night, the structure shimmers with illumination

Sailing Castle serves as a poetic reimagining of urban space

visitors are encouraged to walk among the sails and pause to reflect

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project info:

name: Sailing Castle Hai’an
artist: Cheng Tsung FENG

location: Tainan, Taiwan

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom