Dual purpose: JUT auditorium by MVRDV

To say that the whole of the interior is clad in carpeting hardly does justice to what visitors can expect in the auditorium, a 240-square-metre lecture theatre next to ground-floor exhibition galleries at the JUT Foundation in Taipeh. As the Foundation is concerned with art, architecture and local urban development, it is little surprise that it accepted MVRDV's suggestion to round off the makeover of its auditorium with a unique work of art.

The architects recognised the opportunity to provide the functional space for lectures and events the additional meaning of a public art installation. Accordingly an artwork by Alexandra Kehayoglou, an Argentinian artist creator of wool rugs in a painstaking hand-tufting process and known for her enormous dedication to craftsmanship, now covers the whole of the lecture theatre floor, also climbing the walls to include the arched junction with the ceiling.

The whole room is coloured in natural green hues. Khaki, brown, a scattering of blue and a few touches of red and pink give the impression of a dappled, flower-dotted landscape. The patterns on the short-pile carpet on the floor above all recall a flower meadow, while the clumps and uneven pile of the carpeting on the walls awaken associations with moss and willow.

The rising semi-circular tiers of seats and two recessed openings are the only reminders of the actual purpose of a space in which one would prefer to forget time and oneself.