MVRDV knows a thing or two about the unexpected. The Rotterdam-based architecture firm has spearheaded ambitious projects like a Dutch church turned public swimming pool, a Berlin office whose facade is entirely doused in yellow, and a sky-blue family home perched atop a historic building. Despite defying architectural conventions, MVRDV’s idiosyncratic vision hasn’t been interpreted literally—until now. In the bustling city of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, the firm plans to unveil a new residential tower that, in more ways than one, goes outside the box.
Aptly titled Out of the Box and designed for Win Sing Development Company, the 25-story apartment complex is most remarkable for its innovative catalog of cantilevered boxes. These boxes jut out from the building’s gridded, marble-clad facade, forming loggias, balconies, terraces, and additional interior areas. The cantilever effect, according to MVRDV, was a necessary solution to Taiwan’s building regulations, which include several rules that define and govern various types of outdoor space. Accommodating such stringent demands required thinking “out of the box,” a concept that MVRDV sought to literalize through the apartment’s overhanging features.
By implementing and staggering these boxes, the complex insists on its irregularity, even though its floor plans are based on a small number of repeating apartment types. Notably, the variations in box placements and sizes were determined via digital scripting, processing factors such as sun exposure, space efficiency, and access to services.
“In this way, the design was able to respect the limits of the local building code while going ‘outside the box’ to give every one of the building’s 93 apartments a unique floorplan,” MVRDV explains in a statement. “The benefits of standardization, such as efficiency of space and services, are thus combined with the benefits of giving each apartment its own individual character.”
Beyond its distinct silhouette, Out of the Box further distinguishes itself due to its height, towering above the low- to mid-rise structures surrounding it in Tianmu, one of Taipei’s northernmost neighborhoods. Even so, the building won’t be completely incongruous, as its design features an upgrade to the shops with which it shares the street. The base of the tower also incorporates meticulous landscaping and multifunctional spaces.
“Considering this building’s location and its low-rise neighbors, we knew that this would be a building for viewing—something to see, and something to see from,” Winy Maas, founding partner at MVRDV, says. “How could we express that in our design? The boxes popping out from the building signify this quality. They literally reach out into their surroundings.”
Out of the Box is currently under development and will serve as MVRDV’s first housing project in Taiwan. To learn more, visit MVRDV’s website.
Designed by MVRDV, the 25-story Out of the Box apartment complex features boxes that jut out from the building’s gridded, marble-clad facade.
These cantilevered boxes represent thinking “outside the box,” given that they were MVRDV’s clever solution to Taiwan’s complicated building regulations.
