主編語
Editor-in-chief’s Note

Editor's Note

Chun-Hsiung WANG

Abstract

This issue inquiries about the development of Taiwan's architecture from the 1950s to the 1980s through the theme of "Twofold Reconstruction." After the end of World War II, Taiwan's political and socio-cultural environment underwent drastic changes; at the same time, Taiwan's architecture experienced a profound reconstruction. What is the relationship between the historical reconstruction of Taiwan's architecture and the political, economic, social, and cultural context? This question needs to be urgently clarified. More significantly, we should realize that reviewing this particular part of history is also an action of reconstructing ourselves: by rebuilding history and reconnecting with the past, we reconnect with ourselves. History is a mirror that reflects our current images.
 

In "Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem (SMB) and Modern Churches in Taitung," Kuanchih HUANG traces the history of the development of local church architecture, which is unique and considerably different from the mainstream architecture in western Taiwan. Furthermore, HUANG explores the construction of their sacred space from the physical experience perspective. In contrast to HUANG's article, which focuses on the transplantation of the new space of the Western church to Taitung, the following three essays deal with the historical experience of transplanting Chinese traditions to postwar Taiwan. Besides, these essays are inspiring in broadening the understanding of the Chinese tradition manifested in Taiwan's architecture after World War II. In " The Republican China and Confucianism: Ritual Architecture in the National Discourse of Postwar Taiwan," Yi-Chih HUANG discusses postwar buildings, such as the National Palace Museum, the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, and Temples of Confucius in terms of the "ritual system" used in Imperial China. He provides pertinent remarks on the significance of these architectural symbols, which we find empty today, to the rulers in the authoritarian atmosphere of the time. However, in Ya-Chun CHIANG's "The Coincidence and Trial of Nature and National Traditions in Chinese Culture: A Study of Yu-Jun Lu’s Discursive Practices from Ming Tang Xin Kao to Da- Cheng Building," she re-examines Lu Yu-Jun's views and practices. As the official representative of architectural expression under the reconstruction of national history in CHIANG Kai-shek's regime, Lu Yu-Jun focused on studying the Ming Tang of the Zhou Dynasty when reconstructing Chinese architectural tradition. And the study background was that Lu aimed to discuss the Chinese architectural traditions outside the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture. At that time, Liang Sicheng refused to relocate to Taiwan with the Nationalist government, and the publications of the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture were banned, leaving a vacancy in the discourse of Chinese architectural tradition that urgently needed to be replenished. Lu Yu-Jun did not take archaeological objects as the starting point, as in the case of the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture. Yet, peculiarly, his research focused on texts from ancient books. In addition, he tried to connect "Ming Tang" architecture to the philosophy of "unity of heaven and humanity" to converge with the organism of modern architectural naturalism. According to CHIANG, the result of his procrustean research made Lu Yu-Jun's effort invalid.
 

In "Concepts of Traditions in the Early Postwar Period between Da-Hong Wang and Kenzo Tange," KO Sheng-Chieh highlights Da-Hong Wang's individualistic perspective and method of modernizing traditional Chinese architecture. In addition, he introduces Tange Kenzo's concept of Japanese architecture tradition to compare and contrast with Wang's, providing us with a broader view of the development of architectural traditions in postwar East Asia. Compared to the above-mentioned four articles, which focus on the "symbolic" aspect of architecture, Meng-Ying SHEN concentrates on the practical side of architecture in her article, "Vertical Housing Practices: The Postwar Public Housing Program of Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1980s." SHEN first describes the historical development of high-rise residences in postwar Taiwan's public housing projects. Then, she discusses the corresponding social and economic conditions and points out the various unresolved issues that followed vertical housing. Finally, besides the five research articles that have passed rigorous academic review, we would like to introduce the article "Shu-Shung Loo and Cultural Reconstruction of Taiwan's Architecture and Construction Industry in the Early Post-war Period (1946-1947)" through "Historical Source and Commentary" section. Through his research on the archives of the "Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office," the author, Ruei-Hong WENG, reveals a little-known cultural reconstruction project led by the Construction and Planning Bureau, which echoes the articles by Yi-Chih HUANG and Ya-Chun CHIANG.
 

These authors shed light on the research of Taiwan's architecture with rich historical sources. They further present a shared understanding of postwar Taiwan's architecture; they seem to agree that "external creation" was a significant force in shaping Taiwan's architecture. Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem initiated the development of modern architecture in Taitung. The state apparatus of the Nationalist Government established Chinese architectural traditions in Taiwan. Furthermore, Da-Hong Wang practiced his modern Chinese architecture experimentation, and the government implemented the Western public housing project in Taiwan. It was the external forces that facilitated the development of Taiwan's architecture. These historical sources may trigger further questions: Was there a corresponding and counteracting "internally-created" force in the architectural community during this period? Or are local factors still to be discovered in these discourses and practices? Indeed, the answers are beyond the scope of this issue, and we look forward to future responses.

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Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem (SMB) and Modern Churches in Taitung

Kuanchih HUANG

Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, National Taitung Junior College

Abstract

As Dahong Wang and Chi Kuan Chen designed their famous architectures such as their own house on Jien-Guo S. Road and Wesley House in Taiwan in pursuit of the spirit of modern Chinese architecture in the 1950s and 1960s, Societas Missionaria de Bethlehem (SMB) built some modern church architecture designed by Justus Dahinden, Karl Freuler and Bro. Felder Juilius, to represent the spirit of modern Swiss architecture. In this article, the background of churches of SMB is discussed on the basis of how SMB’s missonaries moved to Taitung during the period of turbulent changes in China and the development of modern Swiss church architecture influenced by Germany and France. The cases discussed in this article include the church of Kung-Tung technical senior high school (1960) designed by Justus Dahinden, SMB church (1966) designed by Karl Freuler and St. Nicholas of Myra’s church (1968) designed by Felder Juilius to interprete how light and circulation in these churches represent the sacred space perceived by physical senses.
 

Keywords: modern church, SMB, Justus Dahinden, Karl Freuler, Felder Juilius

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The Republican China and Confucianism:

Yi-Chih HUANG

Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Tamkang University

Abstract

Ritual system is a comprehensive presentation of a nation's political organization, cultural beliefs, behavioral norms, social morality, and cosmological views. Therefore, buildings built for ritual practices reflect the materiality of the political power and cultural identity of the society at that time. Politically, since the Chinese Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to promote Confucianism, ritual architecture has become an important symbol of order in regulating feudal Chinese society and culture. Until the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in 1911, traditional ritual architecture played an important role in stabilizing and ordering in feudal Chinese society. As the previous Japanese colony, Taiwan was incorporated into the political system of the Republic of China after World War II. The Nationalist government, as the reformists that overthrew feudal China, resorted to the Confucian concept of "orthodoxy(道統)" after losing its territory in mainland China in order to promote its legitimacy in Taiwan. The modernization of ritual buildings such as National Palace Museum, Confucius Temples and Martyrs' Shrines not only promotes Chinese cultural identity, but also serves as the basis for legitimizing the governance of the Nationalist government in Taiwan.
 

Keywords: Ritual Architecture, Confucianism, National Palace Museum, Confucius Temple, Martyrs’ Shrine

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The Coincidence and Trial of Nature and National Traditions in Chinese Culture:

Ya-Chun Chiang

Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Chung Yuan Christian University

Abstract

This study aims to, through the interlaced trajectory of the East and West, rediscover the epistemological connotation of Lu’s “Ming Tang Xin Kao” and Da Cheng Guan on the basis of the notion of invention of national tradition. The study reveals that Lu has co-constructed biological social imaginary and modernist mechanisms of the twentieth century in order to represent the authenticity of “Nature” with reductionism and structural rationalism; and have them transformed in the restoration diagram. The "qu shi", which implies the meaning of "the original state of shelter", has a straightforward and exposed structure like a covered plaza, showing the origin of "Free China" and the characteristics of modernist architecture. Lu based on the humanistic mechanistic view of "number" and modular system, the scale and proportions of the base and the five chambers are analyzed, showing that "Ming-Tang" is an expression of a high degree of civilization, but it also leads the restoration of tradition to the universal assimilation framework of Western modernity. Da Cheng Guan, which is designed based on the shape of well-field system to integrate Ming-Tang’s five chambers and courtyard (he yuan), expresses the thinking that the nation is formed by the duplication of single-core organism and is physiocratic. Due to reference F. L. Wright's organic architecture concept, the cell core (fireplace) in Wright's works was transformed into a pillarless auditorium (tai shi). The atrium of the courtyard (he yuan) is recognized as the core of the cell, which also has the meaning of "Man-Nature", is compared to the smallest family unit, which is a metaphor of connecting the family and the state through the rule of the saints, echoing the Chinese cultural revival movement's moral politics. When this model is recreated in buildings of Chinese Culture University, it forms a vertical city. The asymmetrical composition of extended plant branches and rhythmic architectural form constructed based on the exterior architectural form defined by interior space functions, on the other hand, fail to co-exist in the appearance of architecture. In addition, Lu ignored the perception of empiricism and regional response, and was influenced by space theory regarding people stay in architecture as a moving physical existence with vision. In the end, the traditional view of "Man-Nature" is facing dissociation. Finally, the “Authenticity” of “Naturalism” becomes a shattered afterimage.

Keywords: Da Cheng Guan, Ming-Tang,Nature, Chinese cultural revival movement, organic architecture,Man-Nature

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Concepts of Traditions in the Early Postwar Period between Da-Hong Wang and Kenzo Tange

KO Sheng-chieh

Assistant professor, Department of Architecture, Tunghai University

Abstract

"Tradition" is an eternal subject of non-Western architectural development, and it is also a major feature that is different from the development of Western modern architecture. In the context of the development of modern architecture, how architects interpret "tradition" is regarded as the awakening and self-establishment of non-Western architects who face the wave of modern architectural development, and it is also the cornerstone of the creation of architecture. Therefore, this research focuses on two architects who have had a significant impact on the development of architecture in Taiwan and Japan, Wang Da-Hong and Tange Kenzo, to discuss their theory of architectural theories by researching their works and discourses. Although this research is a comparative study, the main focus is not to understand the differences between Wang and Tange; on the contrary, this research looks forward to explore the similarities between the two architects who are in different development contexts but facing the traditional imagination constructed under the same East Asian culture. The purpose of this research is not only to systematically understand the two architects’ response to architectural tradition in the context of modern architecture, but also to look forward to construct a dialogue platform which can transcend geographical constraints, to understand the development of postwar architecture in East Asia from a more comprehensive perspective.

Keywords: East Asian architect, Wang Da-Hong, Tange Kenzo

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Vertical Housing Practices: The Postwar Public Housing Program of Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1980s

Meng-Ying SHEN

Executive Secretary, Taiwan Museum Foundation / Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Shih Chien University

Abstract

Taiwan began its modernization before World War II, after which high-rise residential buildings gradually became the core issue of modern architectural design. When moving unthinkingly from horizontal settlements to vertical cities after the war, it seems that people failed to understand the challenges of vertical living. In this study, literature research and historical analysis were used to illustrate the problems faced by Taiwan in moving from ground-level residences to high-rise residences from the 1950s to the 1980s, as well as the attempts and adjustments made by professionals. This study also discussed the issues of spatial structural components, the transportation conditions and technologies of vertical living machines, the enclosure sky and risks of vertical living, the right to be close to nature, and other issues, bringing new thinking to the sustainable development of high-rise living.

Keywords: Public housing project; Vertical city; Modernism

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Shu-Shung Loo and Cultural Reconstruction of Taiwan's Architecture

Ruei-Hong WENG

Master, Graduate Institute of Architecture and Cultural Heritage, TNUA

Abstract

The article is a study on the Construction Bureau, which was established by Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office and was specially subordinated to the Civil Affairs Department, during the early post-war period in 1946. In analyzing the implementation of a series of policies related to cultural reconstruction policy, which was formulated by the Nationalist government for taking over Taiwan in 1944, the focus will be on the influence of these policies on Taiwanese architecture and the significance of the post-war “Cultural Reconstruction Policy” to the architectural and construction fields. Chief Executive Yi Chen appointed Shu–Shung Loo, who had been the chair of the Department of Architecture in National Central University, the proofreader of the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture and the full member of Society of Chinese Architects, to be the director of the Construction Bureau. Yi Chen hoped to bring Loo’s academic and practical experience from China to Taiwan. Yi Chen took advantage of Shu–Shung Loo’s understanding of Chinese architecture to promote the intention of the cultural transformation under the “uprooting Japan; implanting China” in Taiwanese architecture.
 

Shu–Shung Loo became the director of the Construction Bureau, and was in charge of the acceptance of Japanese assets, reconstruction, construction design, construction supervision, housing improvement, drafting regulation, etc. Besides, Shu–Shung Loo published the articles in < Taiwan Construction Industry>. Those articles belittled Japanese-style architecture built by the Japanese; on the other hand, hoped that Taiwan should emulate the homeland and promote the beauty of the homeland's architecture. The articles revealed his attitude towards uprooting Japan and implanting China.
 

In addition, Shu–Shung Loo had established the "Bank of Taiwan - Chiayi Branch" with the name of the private firm "Yongning Architects" in 1946 before he officially took office. This case was the origin of the post-war Chinese classical style architecture and became a representative of "implanting China" in Taiwan. The case also was the product of the "Cultural Reconstruction Policy" guided bythe official policy.

Keywords: Culture Reconstruction, Post War Architecture, Early Post-War Period, Shu-Shung Loo

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