This book showcases ten international giants of architecture and their construction drawings for nine buildings representative of Taiwan’s postwar architecture, telling behind-the-scenes stories about their design and construction.
In the 1950s, a period of rapid infrastructure development kicked off in Taiwan, giving local and foreign architects room to fully explore new ideas. This book features nine buildings completed between 1956 and 1984. Images of architectural models, historical photos, and current field surveys complement over 150 construction drawings, which include building elevations from various angles, and section, floor plan, and interior design drawings. Introductions for each architect and background information on the construction process give readers greater insight into these architects’ ingenuity and exacting standards.
Among the buildings selected for the book are the Jingliao Holy Cross Church with its conical metal spire (Pritzker Prize winner Gottfried Böhm’s first overseas commission); the Chapel of St. Joseph at Kung-Tung Technical Senior High School, which combines the functions of classroom, workshop, dormitory, and church (an early overseas project of the famous Swiss architect Justus Dahinden); Lingxiao Hall at Chih-Nan Temple, the first modern temple building in Taiwan, which brings together reinforced concrete and complex Chinese symbolic elements (designed by master architect Lee Chung-Yao, who restored numerous national treasures); and the cylindrical Fengshan Meat Market, which combines functional considerations with an interesting aesthetic (a public building that demonstrates local Award-winning architect Chen Ren-He’s superb mathematical skill).
Most of the buildings included in this book have blended into Taiwan’s everyday landscape. Accordingly, they may not strike the viewer as particularly noteworthy, especially in respect to the latest design trends. From the perspective of architectural history, however, the wisdom of these architects deserves greater attention and awareness, as do their stories.