Taipei Travel

project to light up Taipei’s ancient walls is well underway. The Parks and Street Lights Office (PSLO) announced that a nighttime illumination project will be implemented to help restore East Gate (Dongmen), South Gate (Nanmen), and Minor South Gate (Xiaonanmen) to their past glory.

The project is similar to the lighting environment improvement project for West District kicked-off last December, involving the nighttime light of North Gate (Beimen), Taipei Railway Workshop, and Taipei Beimen Post Office.PSLO Director Huang Li-yuan pointed out that the City plans to inject lighting art into the three ancient gates with a dose of urban aesthetics—whether in resplendent glow or in dim light--as part of the broader West District lighting initiative.According to Hsu Yu-chien, architect responsible for the project, high CRI (color rendering index) projection lights will be employed to create various illuminous effects on the three gates. This will accentuate the sculptural essence of brackets, the red beams, the edifice silhouette, the compilation of rocks, the roof ridge, the battlements, and other focal points.

Street Lights Section Chief Yang added that energy-efficient LED lighting will be installed around the three gates to replace the outmoded facilities. Staff with expertise in heritage preservation will be assigned to oversee the construction work for the buildings of extreme historical significance.The project is slated for completion by the end of July.