Sailing Castle Hai’an by Cheng Tsung FENG Design Studio – A Poetic Architectural Installation in Tainan, Taiwan

Sailing Castle Hai’an, designed by Cheng Tsung FENG Design Studio, is an extraordinary cultural installation that merges art, architecture, and history into a unique urban experience. Located in Tainan, Taiwan, this project spans 58 m² and was completed in 2025, offering a contemporary reinterpretation of the city’s four-century Han cultural heritage. Photographed beautifully by Fixer Photographic Studio, this installation exemplifies how sculptural architecture can evoke collective memory while interacting with its surroundings.

The Sailing Castle series imagines urban landscapes as archipelagos of ships at sea, where clusters of buildings mimic vessels anchored in harbor. In Hai’an, the installation draws inspiration from Tainan’s historical axis, incorporating outlines of iconic sites such as Fort Zeelandia, Chihkan Tower, Confucius Temple, Nankunshen Daitian Temple, and Anping Kaitai Tianhou Temple. These structures are abstracted into timber sails, layered and interwoven to create a visually compelling form that rises like a fleet of ships frozen mid-motion.

By day, the installation captures and reflects light, radiating vitality across the canals of the West Central District. By night, the structure glows warmly, creating an evocative interplay between the city’s rich heritage and contemporary artistic expression. Visitors can walk among the overlapping wooden sails, pause on thoughtfully integrated seating, and feel the wind passing through the installation—experiencing a sense of timelessness and connection with Tainan’s evolving cityscape.

The staggered arrangement of wooden sails evokes the gathering of ships along the waterfront while suggesting departure and return, symbolizing journeys both physical and emotional. The installation serves as a poetic gathering space, inviting contemplation, interaction, and play. It transforms a public space into a moment of shared unity, where architecture, art, and memory coalesce.

Sailing Castle Hai’an is more than an installation—it is a cultural and architectural journey, allowing visitors to traverse history and the contemporary city, blending heritage, art, and design in a harmonious narrative. Through this project, Cheng Tsung FENG Design Studio highlights the role of temporary urban installations in engaging communities and reimagining public spaces.

All the photographs are works of Fixer Photographic Studio