Museum’s architectural exhibition showcases Taiwan’s changing society
A special exhibition showcasing changing architectural styles in Taiwan to reflect political, social and economic developments in the country from 1949 to 1983 opened on Saturday at Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Titled “Modern Life, Taiwan Architecture 1949-1983,” the exhibition is intended to gauge what happened in Taiwan from just after the end of World War II to the opening of the museum, the museum said in a statement on Friday.
A model of the Chiang A-hsing Mansion built in Hsinchu County in 1949 is displayed in the first part of the exhibition to show the diverse cultures in Taiwan at the end of Japanese colonial rule.
The historic building features Western, Japanese and Taiwanese elements, said Wu Kwang-tyng (吳光庭), one of the three academics who curated the exhibition.
National Cheng Kung University’s Future Venue in Tainan (1959) and National Taiwan University’s Agricultural Exhibition Hall in Taipei (1963) were picked to highlight the introduction of US building skills and techniques when Taiwan received aid from the US from 1951 to 1965, the statement said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s efforts to introduce Chinese architectural elements in local buildings, such as the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute’s Taipei Branch (1959) in Nanhai Academy, are also featured, along with local architects’ attempts to create modern Chinese-style buildings, the museum said.
The works by local architects include the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (1972) designed by Wang Dahong (王大閎), and the library of Taipei Municipal Jinmei Girls’ High School (1968) by Xiu Ze-lan (修澤蘭), Taiwan’s first female architect.
The landmark commercial complex Wan Nian Building (1973) in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping district is featured to showcase the urbanization and rise of consumerism in Taiwan, the museum said.
Works by foreign architects in Taiwan featured in the exhibition include the chapel building of St Joseph Technical Senior High School in Taitung County (1960) by Swiss architect Justus Dahinden.
The exhibition featuring building models, blueprints, documents and videos runs until June 30.