Whenever we look back to the foundation of Taipei Fine Arts Museum, we always return to 1983. Yet from the perspective of architecture, the curtains were drawn back on its history well before that year. Three decades on, we now revisit TFAM's architectural beginnings, plumbing the depths of the museum's history. We hope that this book not only affords greater recognition and understanding of the museum's architectural design, but also provides a different dimension of thought regarding the evolution of Taiwanese culture and art.

This book is divided into two sections. The first considers the building's architectural form. Director Huang Hai-ming's "TFAM's Architectural Codes" limns the inscrutable atmosphere of this structure. In the second article, "TFAM Architecture Talk 2013," the architect Kao Er-Pan meets face-to-face with a museum staff member for the first time in thirty years. Designer and user return together to the beginning, elucidating the design process in an interview both moving and surprising. The third article, "Kao Er-Pan: The Architect of TFAM," written by architecture scholar and critic Hsu Ming-Song, explores the sources of inspiration for the TFAM design, offering an in-depth analysis of the building and its underlying concepts, and exploring the significance it has had for the history of Taiwanese architecture.

The second part of this book, "TFAM Architecture Dossier, 1976-1984" is a special collection of documents related to the building's design, from 1976 to 1984, attempting to broadly outline TFAM's creation, from the initial design concepts during the competition stage, to refinement, to construction. This section is particularly indebted to historical documents gathered in the major Taiwanese periodicals Lion Art Magazine and Architect Magazine. After three decades these various independent historical papers have been reorganized, republished, and given new meaning, buttressing the scholarly dimension of this volume.

contents

05 - About This Book
09 - TFAM’s Architectural Codes | HUANG Hai-Ming/Director of TFAM
29 - TFAM Architecture Talk 2013 | KAO Er-Pan vs. Jimmy FENG
40 - Kao Er-Pan : The Architect of TFAM | Shyu, Ming-Song / Assistant Professor,
Department of Architecture, Ming Chuan University

- TFAM Architecture Dossier 1976-1984