Taiwanese ‘Architecture’
Comments: 11
James Boyden, a friend of mine who now lives in Taiwan, wrote to me about ugly Taiwanese architecture (if it may be called that) after reading the recent House Week series. I asked him to send along some shots and his friend Steve Waigand was kind enough to take the following photographs which James explains below.
Tanks to James Boyden (words) and Steve Waigand (pictures) – Tokyo just got prettier!
This shot shows a home with a gigantic addition on the roof. I’m not sure, but this one might be for use as a birdhouse. Apparently, it’s illegal to put these on the tops of houses, though I estimate at least a 1/3 of all homes in Taiwan have them, so it’s obvious enforcement of building regulations isn’t a high priority here.
Though these are bigger than most, I think it gives you an idea of what many people do to their homes to maximize limited land space. The flimsiness of these structures is no doubt due to the fact that permission can’t be obtained for erecting them in the first place, hence the work is done quickly and cheaply.
This next shot is of an abandoned building complex just across the street from the aforementioned houses. The circular structure was intended as an office complex, while the other two were going to be residences. The Hong Kong investors behind the project went bankrupt around halfway through construction, and here they stand, looming over the surrounding neighborhood.
This is actually not an atypical scene in Taichung, which has the greatest number of abandoned high-rises in all of Taiwan, more even than Taipei. Not only are these buildings eyesores, they also end up becoming hangouts for squatters, drug users and so on. There’s actually a family that lives on the ground floor of the building on the left. From street level their “home” is well camouflaged with wooden planks, but looking down from Steve’s rooftop, it’s possible to see what’s going on.
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Posted to Architecture • 2002.12.22 (Sun) • 00:40
Comments
Posted by Ryan Carter 2002.12.22, 08:51
There are plenty of abandoned buildings here in Bucharest, mainly all projects that Communist dictator Ceausescu had started, but were never finished after the revolution. So these eyesores have just been sitting here decaying over the last 13 years. Although some have been bought up by developers during the past decade, work towards completing them has only occurred in a handful of cases. The new mayor recently gave warning that any such buildings upon which construction work is not resumed (within the next 2 years) will be demolished.
Posted by nick 2002.12.22, 09:07
this doesn’t appear to me so much as bad architecture — like you say, it probably shouldn’t be considered architecture. it just looks like desparate times. those high rises probably wouldn’t look too terrible if they got finished, and i’m sure that the people in those half-shanty houses would probably use decent building materials if they had the means.
it doesn’t matter, though. i’m the kind of guy that drives around looking for places that have seen better times (like this). i’d like a little context here — if there is any. what do the nice parts of town look like, where’s the finished buildings, and where’s a house that hasn’t had an old factory reassembled on its roof? it can’t all be that bad, can it?
Posted by Adam Rice 2002.12.22, 09:38
Here in Austin, we have the skeleton of a large office block, constructed by Intel. The company received big tax incentives to build it here, and then, halfway through, decided they don’t want it after all. So there it has stood for the past couple years. I have no idea what will happen with it.
Posted by Andy 2002.12.22, 13:59
We’ve got a building, the Masoinc Temple, here in Providence, which was never completed and has been abandoned for over 70 years. There is currently a proposal in the works to turn it into a hotel. We’ll see…
http://www.browndailyherald.com/stories.cfm?ID=373
Posted by James 2002.12.22, 14:54
These buildings are not the products of desparate times. Taiwan is an industrialized economy with a standard of living comparable to that in Hong Kong, Singapore or South Korea. Minus the additions on the rooftops, the buildings in the pictures are actually fairly nice-looking middle-class homes, with a greater amount of floorspace than you would find in the average Japanese house. This “architecture” is instead the product of a mindset that does not take into account what kind of effect one’s home “improvements” might have on the overall appearance of the surrounding neighborhood. This is the rule, unfortunately, and not the exception, and it isn’t limited to urban areas. Taiwan is a land that has become ugly not out of necessity, but by choice.
Posted by nick 2002.12.22, 19:43
thank you for the context, james! sorry to hear that’s the way things are.
Posted by shoop 2002.12.23, 11:51
In Barcelona, derelict buildings provide affordable immigrant accomodation and a nice canvas for the street artists.
In many ways James’ statement that “Taiwan is a land that has become ugly not out of necessity, but by choice. ” could be applied to cities throughout the world. I suppose it all depends on the strength of a city’s zoning gestapo.
JH, I enjoyed your Tokyo house tour. Perhaps you could do a series on Pachinko parlours or Ramen shops.
Posted by Adam Bramwell 2003.03.03, 00:16
In Newcastle, Australia the artists have been inspired by staring at our abandoned buildings.. Latec house’s interesting skyline has provided inspiration for an international media festival.
Posted by ashden 2003.03.31, 17:35
JH,
Thank you for highlighting the disgusting architectural mess that pollutes the cities of Taiwan. Reading this article as an ex-Taiwanese, I’m filled with a mixture of embarrassment and pity.
Yes, Taiwan is an economically prosperous country. But due to its 3rd-world past, we have shaped our culture to become a society that values money and wealth above all else. As a result, the first aspects to suffer are those such as aesthetics and good taste (desparately lacking in other fields too, such as design and advertising). And more importantly, these structures often pose dangerous fire and structural risks to the ignorant public. Both developers and the government who set building restrictions are to blame.
With recession and unemployment rapidly on the rise, it is unlikely Taiwan will relent on its “money-grabbing” ways. Perhaps it is why whenever I return, I shake my head at its bleak future.
Posted by bobby 2003.08.14, 15:09
There are many buildings like this all around the world, the largest one i have seen is in rarotonga. The half built building there is worth 200 million.
Posted by Dee 2006.01.16, 15:12
” about ugly Taiwanese architecture (if it may be called that) after reading the recent House Week series. I asked him to send along some shots and his friend Steve Waigand was kind enough to take the following photographs which James explains below.
Tanks to James Boyden (words) and Steve Waigand (pictures) – Tokyo just got prettier!”
Well, all I can say is that webhosting and domain names are so cheap now that people can easily trash talk other coutries so easily. :)
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