On the site of an existing public garden in the neighbourhood of Um Uthaina, west of the Jordanian capital Amman, sits the Commercial Office of the Republic of China-Taiwan. The 3000m2 plot houses a visa centre with a total area of 1600 m2 and an ambassador residence with a total area of 900m2. As an embassy building, it represents the marriage between the Taiwanese and the Jordanian cultures; an exchange, where one is the host and the other a guest. More than a mere work of architecture, an embassy functions as a symbolic representation of two countries’ relationship with one another. As such the building creates a space that is welcoming, secure, and respectful of local traditions; Chinese presence on Jordanian soil. The design sets to integrate the notions of purpose, function, flexibility, art, safety, security, sustainability, and maintainability in a structure that represents one country on foreign land.

Being a public garden, the site offers a suitable and symbolic location to house the Taiwanese Embassy and residence. The site’s natural setting and green gardens enhance the fusion of the two cultures, the fusion of the building with its site and the fusion of Taiwan as a symbol within Jordan’s setting and within the capital’s urban fabric.

The fusion between the Chinese and Jordanian cultures is the framework from which unique architectural spaces are inspired for the use of the ambassador and the embassy visitors. The Chinese spirit, cultural and traditional beliefs combined with Arabian layout and architecture set the stage for the building’s physical and visual design.  The structure sits seamlessly on the site with the flow of spaces intertwining between atmosphere, garden and building. The host -Jordanian land- is at the anchoring ground level, while the guest- China- is elevated in height, as the valued and honoured guest on this foreign land.