New architectural exhibition showcases Taiwan’s changing society

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) A special exhibition showcasing changing architectural styles in Taiwan to reflect political, social and economic developments in the country from 1949 to 1983 opened at Taipei Fine Arts Museum Saturday, according to the organizers.

The exhibition, titled “Modern Life, Taiwan Architecture 1949-1983,” looks back at the transformation of Taiwan by showcasing significant architectural works from different periods, the museum said in a statement Friday.

The time frame from 1949 to 1983 is intended to gauge what happened in Taiwan from just after the end of WWII to the opening of the museum, according to the statement.

A model of the Chiang A-hsing Mansion built in Hsinchu County in 1949 is displayed in the first part of the exhibition to show the diverse cultures in Taiwan at the end of Japanese colonial rule. The historic building features Western, Japanese and Taiwanese elements, said Wu Kwang-tyng (吳光庭), one of the three scholars who curated the exhibition, at a press event Friday.

Meanwhile, National Cheng Kung University’s Future Venue in Tainan (1959) and National Taiwan University’s Agricultural Exhibition Hall in Taipei (1963) are picked to show the introduction of American building skills and techniques when Taiwan received aid from the United States from 1951-1965, according to the statement.

On the other hand, the nationalist government’s efforts to introduce Chinese architectural elements in local buildings, like the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute’s Taipei Branch (1959) in Nanhai Academy, are exhibited along with local architects’ attempts to create modern Chinese style buildings , the museum said.

Works by local architects featured in the exhibition include the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (1972) designed by Wang Da-hong (王大閎), and Taipei Municipal Jinmei Girls High School’s library (1968) by Xiu Ze-lan (修澤蘭), who has been dubbed Taiwan’s first female architect.

The landmark commercial complex Wan Nian Building (1973) in Taipei’s Ximending shopping district is featured in the exhibition to show urbanization and the rise of consumerism in Taiwan, according to the museum.

Works by foreign architects in Taiwan are also shown in the exhibition, the museum said, citing as an example the chapel building of St. Joseph Technical Senior High School in Taitung County (1960) by Swiss architect Justus Dahinden.

At Friday’s press event, co-curator Wang Chun-hsiung (王俊雄) mentioned Jingliao Catholic Church in Tainan (1960) designed by German architect Gottfried Bohm as another example.

“We only discovered Bohm’s work in Taiwan when he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1986,” Wang said.

The exhibition featuring building models, blueprints, documents and videos runs until June 30.