BOOKTALKS| A New Book Sharing Session on Those Uncollected Pearls and Favored "When We Live Together — Residential Design and Ideal Modern Living”

2025-03-23

Sun

14:00

16:00

Speakers

Meng-Ying Shen Executive Secretary, Taiwan Museum Foundation
Wei-Chien Hung Research Assistant, National Taiwan Museum

Guest

Yao-ting Wu Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Shih Chien University

Location

DH Café (No. 153, Section 3, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City)

Fee

$150 (Can be applied toward book purchases made on the same day)

Introduction

Since undertaking the Ministry of Culture’s mission to promote knowledge of Taiwan’s architectural history in 2020, the Taiwan Museum Foundation has collaborated with the National Taiwan Museum to complete research, publications, exhibitions, and documentaries on numerous classic architectural archives. In 2021, it partnered with the Taiwan Alliance for Arch Modernity to publish the book The 100-Year History of Taiwan’s Public Housing. Building on these achievements, in 2022, the Foundation and the National Taiwan Museum jointly curated the exhibition Living Together: Public Housing Design and the Ideal Modern Life to deepen public understanding of Taiwan’s architectural culture.

To preserve and promote the exhibition’s research result, a companion monograph of the same title was released after the exhibition concluded. Beyond the original exhibition cases, the book expands the content to include several overlooked cases that were regrettably omitted due to limited exhibition space, aiming to present a more complete result of the curatorial research. It continues to convey the original curatorial vision: “Housing is not merely a shelter from the elements; it is the vessel that embodies our ideal modern life.” Through a modernist lens, it revisits Taiwan’s and the world’s evolving perspectives on “livable” housing and residential design across a century of different eras. It seeks to provoke readers’ reflection on housing policy, residential experience, housing design, and sustainable architecture, while also leaving behind a valuable record and testimony of the times.

The event features the authors of the monograph, Meng-Yin Shen (Executive Secretary, Taiwan Museum Foundation) and Wei-Chien Hung (Research Assistant, National Taiwan Museum), who will discuss the journey from curating the exhibition to publishing the book, along with selected case studies from the volume. Special guest Yao-Ting Wu (Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Shih Chien University) will share his experiences personally visiting public housing sites while collecting data for the “Vers Une Architecture” database.

Event Recap

If the 2023 exhibition Living Together: Public Housing Design and the Ideal Modern Life represented a milestone achievement, the subsequent publication of its companion monograph marked the beginning of a deeper discourse. At the book launch event, the speakers revealed behind-the-scenes insights into the exhibition. Through analyzing several “overlooked” case studies and field visit experiences, they explored the meaning and potential of public housing.

The concept of public housing has actually evolved in Europe for over a century. Different nations’ visions for citizens’ lives gave rise to diverse systems. Thus, public housing forms a spectrum: from state housing and social housing to cooperatives, housing corporations, and housing associations, flourishing in various forms across regions. Placing Taiwan’s public housing in a global context is both the exhibition’s original intent and the driving force behind this publication. Starting from the core question of “how to create a better life and future through housing,” it explores shifts in concepts and approaches across different eras, as well as how international experiences have directly or indirectly influenced Taiwan, inviting readers to contemplate what constitutes an ideal living environment that everyone deserves.

Design trends, social environments, and housing policies have all shaped each era’s vision of an ideal modern life. Public housing reflects architectural innovations and evolving social values across different periods, while also revealing the interaction between people and their environment and the development of communal living relationships. Over a century of development, these structures have transcended mere housing. Many have become World Heritage sites or significant national cultural assets, such as Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada. In Taiwan, cultural heritage buildings are typically celebrity residences or historic sites, with public or collective housing being relatively scarce. Through extensive research, the author identified the Hong-Lu Apartments, designed by architect Da-Hong Wang, as a structurally comparable example. Many intriguing public housing projects were demolished during urban development, such as the Zheng Yi New Village Public Housing designed by architect Chi-Kuan Chen and the Wang Lai-Cheng Public Housing by architect Jen-Ho Chen. However, thanks to the National Taiwan Museum’s architectural drawing archives, these public housing projects are preserved through their blueprints.

Beyond the architectural history documented in books, Yao-Ting Wu also shares “on-site” architectural history through his firsthand visits to public housing projects abroad. Through seven case studies—including Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s Terassi-talo, the Fire Station La Benauge in Bordeaux, France, and Hong Kong’s Wah Fu Estate—he demonstrates the diverse forms public housing can take. He further explores how public and private identities manifest within modular living conditions.

Public housing often reflects the ideals of architects and governments of an era, yet it is also the type in which those ideals prove most difficult to realize. This is because designing collective housing requires planning based on the greatest common denominator to accommodate numerous residents and address all needs. At this point, advancing ideals requires not only strong architects or governments but, more importantly, residents themselves must pursue their vision of an ideal life. It is hoped that through this exhibition and the publication of the monograph, more readers will be inspired to reflect on contemporary housing development, opening up further discussions on the future of residential forms in Taiwan.