China Medical University (CMU) has initiated the construction of a significant cultural landmark, the CMU Museum of Fine Arts at the Shui-Nan campus, in Taichung,  Taiwan.

Designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Frank Gehry, the project is claimed to be his “only monumental creation in East Asia”, and represents a “defining moment” in Taiwan's architectural and cultural progression.

 China Medical University and Healthcare System chairman Dr. Chang-Hai Tsai stated he has long harboured the ambition to extend the university's impact to encompass architecture and the arts, in addition to its established domains of education, medicine, and biotechnology.

Dr. Chang-Hai Tsai said: "Through architecture and art, and through the hand of a master architect, we hope to offer the world a glimpse of Taiwan's spirit."

The plan for the Shui-Nan campus, conceived in 2014 and entrusted to the New York–based architecture firm SOM with planning, was centred around a museum that would serve as a space for art, as well as “ideas, identity, and innovation”.

Dr. Tsai, reached out to Frank Gehry, claimed to be the “father of deconstructivist architecture” and one of over thirty living Pritzker laureates for the project.

Gehry, who has stepped back from design competitions and now works solely through invitations, agreed to design a museum suited to Taiwan's context, stated CMU in its press release.

The museum's design features the use of folded metal sheets and “undulating” stainless steel, creating an interplay with the natural light and sky.

Gehry's design is said to turn the building's façade into a “living canvas”, “radiating hues like a watercolour painting” that shift with the sun and weather.

The CMU Museum of Fine Arts is intended to serve as a space where Taiwan's university and aesthetic education intersect and link Taiwan to the global cultural landscape.  

It is expected to collaborate with the Asia Museum of Modern Art and international institutions including Harvard's Fogg Museum, Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, and Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum.

Chairman Tsai added: "World-class cities are home to world-class universities—institutions that not only excel in academic research, but also house world-renowned museums. Universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, and Cambridge exemplify the seamless integration of scholarship and the arts."