PUBLIC LECTURE
BY ERIC CHEN
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: ERIC CHEN
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-Founder of ArchiBlur Lab
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-Studied Philosophy of fine art at the Tainan National University of the Arts
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-Studied Architecture at Chung Yuan Christian University
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-Now Assistant Professor at Chung Yuan Architecture School
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-Also, a visiting Professor of UCSI University
In this talk, entitled “Body and Landscape as Ways of Seeing”, he took us into a deeper discussion on this particular project and how he connects the people, space and the environment through the project of urban archipelago. He showed us a series of temporary architecture, so called moving architecture, and how these architecture plays a different role in different environment, and how the function of the space alters with the changes, and connects the human with the different spaces and environment in the surroundings.
These so called moving architectures, are small temporary architectures that are to move around the city of Taiwan in specific location, and the purpose is to bring Taiwan’s unused spaced to life. It was designed as an attraction to the public, and try to bring the public to see the little elements that made the environment so special. It brings us to the reminder of what we tend to miss out on during our busy lifestyle of this generation. And connects the people through these spaces, with the surroundings.
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They are pavilions, some of which can be disassembled and others that can be moved on wheels, which host activities designed to activate underused public spaces and that vary on a case by case basis. The constructions are inspired by the infinite number of spontaneous solutions that can be seen in Taiwan’s streets, squares and parks, especially at night selling food: makeshift restaurants where a hob, a corrugated metal roof, a table and some stools bring otherwise deserted sidewalks and spaces to life.
A system of lightweight metal struts and plastic panels are assembled to create small, lightweight kiosks, which are used as exhibition galleries, graphic production centres, and temporary radio stations. In the tropical night, the diaphanous apparition of these little buildings stands out against the backdrop of the city thanks to the artificial light that filters through their translucent shell and their white colour. New routes and social relationships are therefore triggered by this network of objects, which accepts and reinterprets the transitory nature of Taiwan’s urban space.
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The range of possibilities for the project is endless; it’s a programme that has been reinterpreted on a case by case basis. On a few occasions, local organizations have helped with the construction and the choice of activity, creating community gardens and clinics. On other occasions, cultural institutions commissioned the creation of several elements as part of a festival or public event. Chen describes the strategy of these drifting islands as the meeting point where familiar forms (the roof, the window, the wall, the door), that belong to the architectural tradition, converge with the aesthetic tradition of assembling simple materials, which is instead typical of the spontaneity of urban life. To me, this is a very different and yet interesting way of seeing architecture, especially in today’s architecture world where we often see architecture as something that will remain at one place forever. And this certainly put us to a challenge of how we perceive architecture in different way by understanding the body of a human, and the surrounding of the environment, and hence changes accordingly with it as time goes by, but still maintain the value of the past, and what’s important is that we should always consider architecture as a tool of reminder, a tool of appreciation of the past, and certainly a tool that brings people together, whether those young or old one.
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There are a total 9 series projects that are included in this urban archipelago project.
Urban Archipelago Projects (NO.1-3)
These three Urban Floating Islands returned to the starting point of architectural ideology to instigate the the loss of physical senses when living in an urban environment. By recalling physicality, architectural element such as ‘window’, ‘roof’ and ‘wall’ are given new meanings to combine with artistic activities in the community and becoming "Family Story House", "Art Exhibition Hall" and "Photography Time Machine", each are the new "conjunctions" of the city where energy gathers.
The creative team intends to develop an architectural scale that is able to drift and change between the body, the city, and the landscape. These conjunctions are not trying to connect the city with its memories but to construct a bizarre and even morbid urban landscape to discuss the tension and vitality of time and materiality. They form an investigation into the deeply-buried energy of its contemporary urban surroundings and inquire the possibility of an alternative field of art making.
As we can see this first three projects shows a different approach to the purpose of architecture, and trying to attract the public by showing them the unique elements of the environment they tend to live in every day, and yet are always missed out on. I think as time goes by people tend to get drown in the busyness of our daily life, and I think it is true that it is important as an architect to understand the important of the context and do our best to spread this importance to the public through architecture.
Urban Archipelago Projects (NO.4)
This project includes a traditional water pump that used pipes to pump water from nearby river and used the water as a resource for roof gardening, the picture shows children in the are that are invited to try out the pumping system and observe the roof garden.
This project took the initiative to communicate with the public through the demonstration, tour, workshop, etc., and to combine the school curriculum and activities to plan the relevant theme activities. In this project, the proposed location is located in a place where there used to be a river flowing by the site, but due to the development of modern days, the river has been cut off by new develop buildings. Therefore, Eric Chen wanted this to be a remembrance of how important the river is to the people around there, and show how people used to obtain water sources from it. Hence, I think that what we can see here is not only the importance of context and environment is to architecture, but it also involves human behavior and activities.
Urban Archipelago Projects (NO.5-6)
In this collaboration between the ArchiBlur Lab and the Showcase Healthcare system it shows a reflection of modern medical implantation that combines urban context. In the continuous development of the medical system, there are already two lines of construction in the city's text. n this basis, the creative team analyzes the existing network of care and resources between different cities, combined with the open architecture of the team - the city of Floydree, to create links and create new network relationships. These two project on the other hand tried to show the appreciation of the development of medical advancement. I think that architecture today is too limited to the understand of body and context, or landscape, and it is important that we had our own perception towards architecture, see it as something unique and valuable, and also brings people together and tried to connect them with the surrounding.
Urban Archipelago Projects (NO.7-9)
These three project are located right on the edges of the island where each shows appreciation and respect to the environment, where in the third picture, the design of the architecture includes a wind turbine that produces energy
These three projects challenge the relation between the environment with the human body. The formation of "islands" is compatible with the combination of natural and human power, the amount of power between the two is the conflict, adaptation is imitation, is also a destruction, mutual influence between each other. An attempt is made to draw a cross-sectional line of monitoring between the edge of the island and the interior, through the implantation of the floating architecture, collecting and discussing the relationship between each other.
Urban Archipelago Projects (NO.10)
This project is also known as landscape reconstruction, where it is a project to redefine modern “village”. The final project of this series the urban archipelago projects is aggregated and renamed integrally, forming the internal relationship and the connection relation with each other, and cooperating with various experts and scholars and artists to form a multi-level landscape construction, towards a temporary settlement generation.
In view of the original railway track system of the Xiao Rong Ruan cultural park, the warehouse and the re-evolution of the warehouse have surpassed the exhibition area of ​​the cultural park in the year. With the concept of the city streets, the layout of the floating island is used to create an open experience of "cross-border" architecture. "City Floating Island" is an open system, where the traditional temple of the "cross-border" is to form a dynamic public meeting area, as the folk temple, from point by point, to accompany the god of self-cooperation organization, " The concept of open system of civil society self-communication is used to integrate the environmental consciousness of Xiao Ruan cultural park with the cultural context of folklore in Taiwan's photographic history, art history and contemporary art history. Together, the place of public meetings towards its own history of civil society, had turned the sugar factory into a cultural park in the direction of the force, where it pushes the public to get near to public emotional sharing platforming the future.
THOUGHTS:
Made as drifting platforms that can fill urban spaces, the “Urban Archipelago projects” are trying to develop a new architectural scale that is able to drift and change between the body, the city, and the landscape, transforms different areas into theaters, school zones and stages. Built with a combination of tectonic elements and formal conditions, the designs investigate the capacity of people to engage with evolving urban morphologies and different methods of making art.
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All in all, I believe that Eric Chen had shown us a very different way of seeing architecture, and that he challenges us to see it in our own way as well. But he also stresses the importance of human body in relation to the environment in architecture world, and that we should always consider this in the design process. Besides that, I think that these projects also remind us that architecture is a respond to the environment in the surrounding, and it should not only bring the people together but also connects the people through architecture to the environment.