
Ching-Yueh Roan Architect and Novelist
Tseng-Yung Wang Architectural critic
Chun-Hsiung Wang Director, Department of Architectural Design, Shih Chien University
Winsing Art Place (No. 6, Lane 10, Lane 180, Section 6, Section 6, Minquan East Road, Neihu District, Taipei City)
Admission is free and requires prior registration
Guo Xuhuan and Huang Hui-mei took a deep dive into the design methodology of contemporary Taiwanese urban architecture through the exhibition “Space of Time” and refocused the user experience of the building. The exhibition includes their architectural creations from the past 25 years, where the two never found an opportunity to wake up from the delay of everyday life that rotates day after day. Creating the image of tiny but impossibly brilliant spaces in urban gaps revives the infinite possibilities of space over time and makes everyday life better.
Exhibition Series Lecture Series 5th【How to be Modern? What kind of building?] , specially invited two acquaintances of Nguyen Ching-yue (architect, novelist) and Wang Tse Wing (architectural critic). The talk will focus on the relationship between Guo Wong's architecture and modern urban life from a perspective on the evolution of global modernity and its localization.
Since the Industrial Revolution, human life has gradually developed a sense of "modernity." But what is modernity? As a term born in contrast to the classical, the meaning of "modern" has continuously transformed over time, evolving from a lifestyle grounded in scientific rationality to gradually incorporating democratic and local thoughts. Presently, the modern life in each place is different, and consequently, the definition of modernity varies. So, what is Taiwan's modernity? Despite adopting Western-derived rational thinking that is universal and easy to communicate, as non-Westerners, we often find ourselves in conflict with so-called modernity due to traditional values.
Some Taiwanese architects incorporate historical vocabulary or sentimental elements into their designs, questioning the absolute rationality of modernity. Some break away from traditional regionality, using their architectural innovation to reflect internal conditions and the current time and space. Others excel at grasping universal thinking and aesthetics but are not absorbed by universal modernity. Instead, they cultivate their own way of metropolis life. Large-scale architecture belongs to this category: a "localized modernity" that coexists with globalism. Architecture is not something one person can complete, nor is modernity. Each winding path is unique, with no singular answer. Nevertheless, the different footprints left by generations can form an architectural trend.