Modern Life: Taiwan Architecture 1949–1983

Modern Life: Taiwan Architecture 1949–1983 officially opened at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum on March 23. Consulted by three architectural scholars, Wu Kwang-Tyng, Wang Chun-Hsiung, and Wang Tseng-Yung, the exhibition focuses on issues, events, and cultural factors that influenced the development of architecture in Taiwan from 1949 to 1983. It leads the audience to explore the changing cultural landscape of Taiwan after the end of World War II in the political and social context of the time, portraying a diverse and modern era. The exhibition features over two hundred works through architectural drawings, models, archives, images and videos, including replicas of precious models and designer furniture specially crafted for this exhibition.

In 2021, while proceeding with the TFAM expansion project, TFAM Art Complex, the Museum simultaneously launched a research project on "Taiwan Architecture from the Post-World War II Era to the 1980s." Contemplating the spatial context of the museum's location, it looks into the complicated historical contexts behind urban governance and architectural development after the war. In 2022 and 2023, forums on post-war architecture in Taiwan "Modern and Non-Modern" and "Traditional and Non-Traditional," were held to expand discussions. The related research findings were published in the museum's Journal of Taipei Fine Arts Museum and quarterly Modern Art. This year, the research results were comprehensively presented through an exhibition. The exhibition unfolds with six sub-themes, including "Influence of the US Aid," "Return to Chinese Retro," "Emergence of Chinese Modern," "Defining Regional Modernity," "Outliers," and "A New Life." Through the lens of architecture, it reveals Taiwan's exploration of modernity and the fusion or collision experienced in various aspects such as politics, social concerns, religions, arts, and commerce.

One of the curatorial researchers, Wu Kwang-Tyng, stated, "Architecture is not just a physical space but also a projection of the lifestyle, thoughts, and ideal visions of an era." After the end of World War II, Taiwan faced a change in regime. At the end of 1949, the Nationalist Government from Nanjing relocated to Taiwan, bringing along different architectural techniques, concepts, and lifestyles, which influenced the previously Japan-colonized way of life. The "Prelude" section begins with the TFAM's collection of Deng Nan-Guang's photography The End of an Era," and the model of Chiang A-Hsin Mansion (1949), which inherits the eclectic Western, Japanese, and Taiwanese traditional styles from the Japanese colonial period, guiding audience into the post-war multicultural era. The "Influence of the US Aid" section traces Taiwan's receipt of American economic aid from 1951 to 1965, introducing American-style systematic construction drawings, prestressed concrete, and other materials and technologies in the profession of architecture. This section presents the architectural design drawings of two buildings constructed with reinforced concrete through a rational structural approach: the Main Library of National Cheng Kung University (1959, now the NCKU Future Venue) and the Agricultural Exhibition Hall of National Taiwan University (1963).

In the early post-war period, the Nationalist Government actively promoted the "Return to Chinese Retro" style to shape the national image. The "Nanhai Academy" located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, was a gathering place for this style of architecture. From the models and drawings displayed in the exhibition, the imitation of the Chinese Temple of Heaven's tented roof can be seen. However, beneath the retro facade, the architect Lu Yu-Jun was inspired by Le Corbusier's concept of "promenade architecturale," designing circular ramps to provide users with a walking experience that better perceives space, light, and visual changes.

The "Emergence of Chinese Modern" trend began with the completion of Wang Da-Hong's residence on Jianguo S. Rd. in 1953. This subcategory transformed the essence of traditional courtyard layouts or comparable style of Suzhou gardens, instead, it utilized Western minimalism and transparent spatiality. It also adopted localized materials and construction techniques, attempting to integrate the spirit of Eastern culture into modern architecture. This exhibition section recreates the exploration of both traditional and modern thinking in architecture and art during this period, through works such as the Art Center of Tunghai University, models of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, architectural drawings, and Ni Tsai-Chin's works "Tunghai University’s Luce Memorial Chapel" and "Bird’s Eye View of Wenli Boulevard."

In the late 1950s, Taiwan experienced rapid economic growth, massive social changes, and significant urban population expansion. The "Defining Regional Modernity" points out the broad absorption of influences from Europe, America, and Japan, nurturing a rich and diverse local architectural scene.

Renowned as Taiwan's first female architect, Hsiu Tes-Nan designed many buildings for campuses throughout her architectural career. Among them, the most impressive is the library of JingMei Girls High School (1968), which resembles blooming flowers. The circular skylights on the roof and the inset colored glass create a solemn but comfortable reading environment for students and teachers. Visitors to the exhibition can also sit on benches designed by Hsiu Tes-Nan for the auditorium of Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School and watch a scene from the film "Lonely Seventeen" (1967), which depicts the campus of JingMei Girls High School, experiencing the campus architecture influenced by modernism.

Another campus architectural work is the Wave Building of San Sin High School of Commerce and Home Economics(1963), designed by architect Chen Ren-He. The undulating wave-like floor design arranges classrooms facing each other in pairs, with the troughs serving as podiums and the crests as student seats. This design balances mechanics and practicality. The dense formulas and numbers on the architectural cross-section drawings demonstrate the architect's outstanding structural calculation and design abilities, responding to challenging circumstances in an era before the widespread use of computer-aided design and programming.

The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, completed and inaugurated in 1983, was the first generation of post-war Taiwan's local architects' contemplation of "Defining Regional Modernity" and is a highly representative work. Architect Kao Er-Pan used the hash symbol structure to construct a square geometric and minimalist gray-white modernist-style building. In this exhibition, the audience can look over the expanding new area from the Museum's tubular exhibition space. Whether in the past or present, architecture reflects the imagination of future life and attempts to provide a more intimate connection between the public's lives, nature, and art.

This exhibition also displays the study notes of Wang Hsiu-Lian, the first-generation local female architect after the war, as well as works by artists Yen Shui-Long and Kuo Po-Chuan, who once taught at the Department of Architecture in National Cheng Kung University. It hopes to evoke memories of the burgeoning architectural education in Taiwan and the aesthetic nourishment absorbed by architecture students at that time.

The sub-theme "Outliers" covers designs by foreign architects, such as the Chapel Building of St. Joseph Technical Senior High School designed by Swiss architect Justus Dahinden, which had been selected as one of the thirty most important modern buildings worldwide. Its use of reinforced concrete slabs and the "plate structure" without beams or columns represents a concrete manifestation of modern construction techniques. This section also selects the Beitou Branch Temple of Hsing Tian Kong and the Linghsiao Shrine of Chih Nan Temple as references for Eastern and Western religious architecture during this period. While seemingly continuing the tradition of local temples, they incorporate modern structural technology and materials, presenting a transformation, synthesis, and diverse interpretation of "modernity."

With the economic takeoff and rapid urbanization, the government began constructing public housing in the 1950s and also encouraged private investment in apartment buildings. "A New Life" section showcases the configuration model of the Zhongxing New Village, the emerging South Airport Public Housing, and old photographs of the Lincoln Building. From the vertical living experience of high-rise apartments at that time, and public facilities for daily life, to the inclusion of kitchens and bathrooms indoors for individual households, they demonstrate the expectations and practices of a better vision for modern living.

In addition to residential issues, the establishment of large shopping malls also changed people's lifestyles. The Wannien Commercial Building (1973), a collective memory for many Taipei people, operated individually by various businesses, emphasized convenience and comfort in shopping spaces through spacious corridors, multiple elevators, and air conditioning. It became evidence of new consumption patterns during urbanization.

TFAM Director Jun-Jieh Wang stated: "Using architecture as a viewing window for Taiwan from 1949 to 1983, it's not just about exploring architectural forms and architectural history, but also about looking back from a contemporary perspective to trace the history of Taiwan’s modernization. It probes the subjectivity of our society, what constitutes the ideal modern life, and its impact on us. Modern Life: Taiwan Architecture 1949–1983 attempts to present different possibilities for architectural exhibitions and looks forward to inspiring discussions on more topics."