
Tse Ying Chun 3rd Architect of Building Studio
Nguyen Ching-Yue Architect, Curator, Writer
Wen Shin Art Center (No. 6, Lane 10, Lane 180, Section 6, Section 6, Minquan East Road, Neihu District, Taipei City)
◆ 3/06 AESTHETICS: FROM “SHENZHIZUTI” TO “LIKE THIS IS THE CASE WITH IROGAKI”
3/13 Civilian Architecture: From “People's Buildings” to “People's Cities”
3/20 Yes/None: From “Mutually Focused” to “Participatory Architecture”
3/27 Imagining a Future Civilization: Tribal, Community, Sustainability
Topic Sharing: 45 minutes
Conversation: 45 minutes
QA: 30 minutes.
One lecture is $500, four-course package is $1800. 20% discount for students with student ID card (valid student ID must be presented for admission)
This event can be purchased at the bookshop with an invoice and a discount on the day book store is 150 yuan
After the Great 921 earthquake, Xie Yingchun and the Shao tribe rebuilt their homes. Xie Yingchun not only led fundraising and construction, but also persisted in this mechanized world. He still uses low-tech methods to respect the weak workforce, regardless of men and women. He believes that all individuals and families can help each other. Build your own home.
Using his experience in building construction in this earthquake, Xie actively entered the impoverished countryside of China, helping farmers in need of housing to build their own homes. After the 2008 Wengchuan earthquake, the mountains of Mao County, which are mostly Tibetan, Qiang, and other ethnic minorities, carried out the reconstruction of more than 50 Yangliu villages. After the Wengchuan earthquake in 2008, the Qian people participated in the construction of more than 50 people. Build and restore or perpetuate original beliefs, rituals, and the autonomy of the inhabitants as a primary goal of architecture.
The most fundamental difference between Hsieh Ying Chun and other architects is that while using industrialized building methods, they avoid reliance on high technology and special materials, stick to a simple process of materials and construction, and try to obtain natural ecological materials from the vicinity, such as stone, bamboo, etc., in a simple, low-tech way. A smart, cheap, and mutually supportive way to encourage people to cover their homes. In addition, allowing users to participate in covered houses not only saves construction costs, but also enables vulnerable people to build self-esteem and confidence by participating in the construction, but also critiques and solutions to the current phenomenon of overly capital- and technology-driven construction through this practical building system.
When star architects are now considered the meaning of architects, Xie Ying-chun's appearance and work not only made people rethink the social significance of architecture, but even wonder if architecture can save the world.
The first lecture in the salon series focuses on "aesthetics" and provocatively questions Ying-Chun Hsieh's unique style and core values. When it comes to light steel frame houses for disaster reconstruction, many people admire the humanitarian significance but cannot truly appreciate the aesthetics, which seems lacking in elegance. However, for Ying-Chun Hsieh, aesthetics is an indescribable personal feeling, and any attempt to describe its appearance is like pointing at the moon with one’s finger; it seems to be close to the moon but can never become the moon.
Ying-Chun Hsieh uses a series of seemingly cryptic keywords to gradually reveal how his architectural philosophy evolves from "transcending appearances"—directly thinking about the essence of architecture during creation and using aesthetics to transform the reality of its appearance and state; to "well-governing an uncultured land"—where the spirit of design lies in creating a platform like a blank canvas that allows everyone to participate; and then, through various limitations in disaster areas, continuously weakening his role as an architect until he shares intersubjectivity with the residents. Finally, by letting go, he achieves the natural, imperfect, and affectionately touching state of "such ruins and decayed walls."
Although Ying-Chun Hsieh always honestly explains his long-standing choices and various unintended connections as "merely solving problems," his so-called "forced results" actually reflect his realization that, as an architect for mundane affairs, one cannot escape reality or the "complexity" mentioned by Italo Calvino1; it is an inevitability in life, and once chosen not to evade, one can never be pure.