anyway, there’s some exceptions i guess - hopefully it’s spreading (I’m assuming this person must have a home in the u.s. and brought his American architect over to Taiwan to design his house there):
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That house is a horrible, soulless, suburban box. Is that what counts as “good architecture” in America?
I certainly hope the don’t spread to Taiwan, if everyone built one of those things there would be no green left anywhere and people would have to drive two hours just to get to work.
That said better design and maintenance of urban apartment buildings would be welcome, in fairness the newer buildings do look much better generally.
anyway, there’s some exceptions i guess - hopefully it’s spreading (I’m assuming this person must have a home in the u.s. and brought his American architect over to Taiwan to design his house there):
[/quote]
That house is a horrible, soulless, suburban box. Is that what counts as “good architecture” in America?
I certainly hope the don’t spread to Taiwan, if everyone built one of those things there would be no green left anywhere and people would have to drive two hours just to get to work.
That said better design and maintenance of urban apartment buildings would be welcome, in fairness the newer buildings do look much better generally.[/quote]
i didnt say it was a representation of good architecture in america. i’m saying IT CERTAINLY LOOKS BETTER THAN YOUR TYPICAL TAIWANESE BUILDING LIKE THESE:
Taiwanese buildings a pretty damn ugly mostly, but American style suburban houses are not the answer. They need well designed high density development and proper enforcement of building codes-no horrible window bars or roof-top apartments. Enforcing these kinds of rule is only possible in new buildings.
Taiwanese buildings a pretty damn ugly mostly, but American style suburban houses are not the answer. They need well designed high density development and proper enforcement of building codes-no horrible window bars or roof-top apartments. Enforcing these kinds of rule is only possible in new buildings.[/quote]
you’re not getting it dude. i’m talking better architecture in general, whether it be surburban houses or urban apartments.
Taiwanese buildings a pretty damn ugly mostly, but American style suburban houses are not the answer. They need well designed high density development and proper enforcement of building codes-no horrible window bars or roof-top apartments. Enforcing these kinds of rule is only possible in new buildings.[/quote]
you’re not getting it dude. I’m talking better architecture in general, whether it be surburban houses or urban apartments.[/quote]
People in Taiwan just see it as a waste of money. Cultural differences and conservatism over cash savings rather than investing in property. You notice this kind of disparate thinking within Europe, too. I quite like it; that lack of interest in surface looks. It hints at steel within.
The American one is foul; the proportions are all wrong, although it’s huge and probably really comfortable and I’d like to live in it. Thirdrail, I like the Taiwanese ones you chose, especially the top one.
if they can design beautiful museums, bed and breakfast villas and other cultural and recreational buildings like these, then why can’t they apply them to private homes?
this house is pretty interesting, tho i’m not sure personally i want my house entirely covered with bamboo bars:
Why is everybody always picking on America? It’s not like we invade just anybody – only pissant little countries where everybody looks funny and we know from the get go that we’re going to win. I sincerely doubt anyone here brought an American architect over to design their house. Taiwan isn’t called a copy country for nothing.
These “designs” have the distinct look of that uniquely Taiwanese school known as Frankenstein Design. A little bit of this. A little bit of that. All thrown together with an utter lack of unifying theme.
Now, please, by all means resume your regularly programmed Barcalounging.
[quote=“politbureau”]I sincerely doubt anyone here brought an American architect over to design their house. Taiwan isn’t called a copy country for nothing.
These “designs” have the distinct look of that uniquely Taiwanese school known as Frankenstein Design. A little bit of this. A little bit of that. All thrown together with an utter lack of unifying theme.[/quote]
there’s nothing wrong with altering a design to suit local aesthetical tastes so long as it looks good and i think those designs are pretty nice. they look better than some crappy architecture in the u.s… and yes there’s a lot of them.
[quote=“politbureau”]I sincerely doubt anyone here brought an American architect over to design their house. Taiwan isn’t called a copy country for nothing.
These “designs” have the distinct look of that uniquely Taiwanese school known as Frankenstein Design. A little bit of this. A little bit of that. All thrown together with an utter lack of unifying theme.[/quote]
there’s nothing wrong with altering a design to suit local aesthetical tastes so long as it looks good and I think those designs are pretty nice. they look better than some crappy architecture in the u.s… and yes there’s a lot of them.[/quote]
[quote=“thyrdrail”]
there’s nothing wrong with altering a design to suit local aesthetical tastes so long as it looks good and i think those designs are pretty nice. they look better than some crappy architecture in the u.s… and yes there’s a lot of them.[/quote]
If Taiwanese people cared about it and thought it was important, they would do it. It can’t be imposed because that’s wacko. Also, any regulations would be ignored anyway. The majority of people below a certain income level (in any country)live in ugly, utilitarian housing. Those above a certain level, live in ugly but comfortable architecture copied from the countries held in prestige by that nation (I’m seeing Japanese and Italian design, mostly, in the Taiwanese pics you show).
It’s nonsense for middle class people to yap on about what it looks like. Most people don’t give a fiddler’s fart and just want safe, clean shelter with a modicum of environmental protection; warm in winter, cool in summer. They’d like a palace that looks like an American copy of an Italian apartment house, with a garden and a separate bedroom for each kid, but not if it means going without their kids’ education, a new scooter, etc.
That’s a generalisation, and of course there are design- minded people in Taiwan with the money to indulge their sensibilities.
[quote=“TheLostSwede”]Personally I think all places in Taiwan should be decorated like this by law
Yes, that is from a real ad for a place up for rent[/quote]
so what? it looks like a room nicely decorated for kids. nothing wrong with that. american parents decorate their kids’ room with disney characters and other cartoon characters.
[quote=“kent11”]- I have found a good apartment situated at Xinsheng bei lu, section 2 intersects Minsheng dong lu, section 2, in the datong and songshan district
if anyone knows any information about the surrounding area please share
thanks- please help–[/quote]
Last night, I went to my doggie’s vet in that area and right on the Minshen-Xinsheng intersection, there is a lot of work going on with heavy machinery as:
-they are building a new MRT station for the new MRT Xinyi line
-they are also fixing that section of the Jienguo Overpass right now
[quote=“Icon”][quote=“kent11”]- I have found a good apartment situated at Xinsheng bei lu, section 2 intersects Minsheng dong lu, section 2, in the datong and songshan district
if anyone knows any information about the surrounding area please share
thanks- please help–[/quote]
Last night, I went to my doggie’s vet in that area and right on the Minsheng-Xinsheng intersection, there is a lot of work going on with heavy machinery as:
-they are building a new MRT station for the new MRT Xinyi line
-they are also fixing that section of the Jianguo Overpass right now
I’d ask for a significant price reduction.[/quote]
man, they are expanding the taipei mrt like crazy. where it takes most cities decades to build their network, taiwan is taking less than half the time. here in LA, we just have like 4 lines and construction have been at a snail’s pace. nobody takes it cuz the network is too small so you still need a car to get anywhere. your mrt prices are already so much cheaper than in the u.s.
I guess the Taiwanese don’t do anything about their cruddy old stuff as they’re too used to it to really notice it like some of us ‘outside country’ folk do! Not too much different from how we don’t often pay that much attention to yacky stuff back home.
Anyway, we’ve had a couple of interesting offers of places to live on a temp-perm basis, so we’ll take up one at least for the first few weeks, and then take it from there. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into apartment prices/sizes etc in various areas on both English and Chinese language websites and have got an idea of what’s available where etc. We’ve been offered a 2 bedroom place in Wenshan, Wanfang community area. Nothing much going on there, but that’s pretty much what we have here at home and I don’t know that I mind it that much. Also, we know some TW pals around that area. Still think I prefer the idea of Neihu (I don’t look at anything that’s too far from an MRT stop) with it’s parks, lakes and Yangming Shan NP in the background, but, hey there’s time to look at everything once we get there. First thing will be to get medical tests done, ARC applied for and school registration and class selection done.
Having been in London last week to get the visa, I can certainly see what the Lost Swede was saying when she said that TP is not that big! Esp not now with the MRT and, boy, is that thing smooth compared to the London tube!
Just looking at all those photos of fab homes people posted - I saw one place that had been done by a British architect and it was just like a fairly big UK house, just with TW vegetation!! Bet that place had an oven in it…
Wanfang community may be just what you are looking for. You will have the riverside parks by the Jingmei River, the hills out in Muzha, and it is a quiet leafy area with much better air than most parts of Taipei. It is mainly public housing but reasonably new.
[Putting on my argumentative hat] Is London really that much bigger than Taipei? The London metro area has a population of 12 to 13 million people in 1700 sq km. Northern Taiwan is at this point is a continuous urban area running from Keelung City pretty much to Hsinchu. Its population is something like 10-12 million with a total urban area probably around 2000 square kilometers. Since northen Taiwan does not have a public transportation system anything like the one in London, I would argue it’s actually much more difficult to get around, which means the location of your job and residence is very important to quality of life.
Taipei City with an area of 270 sq km and a population of 2.6 million can be compared to Inner London with a population of 2.9 million and an area of 319 sq km. Of course, Taipei’s population (and indeed that of all of Northern Taiwan) is greatly undercounted since you have to be registered in a city to be counted as living there in Taiwan. In practice, many people registered in southern and central Taiwan actually live in the urban north.
[quote=“thyrdrail”][quote=“Icon”][quote=“kent11”]- I have found a good apartment situated at Xinsheng bei lu, section 2 intersects Minsheng dong lu, section 2, in the datong and songshan district
if anyone knows any information about the surrounding area please share
thanks- please help–[/quote]
Last night, I went to my doggie’s vet in that area and right on the Minsheng-Xinsheng intersection, there is a lot of work going on with heavy machinery as:
-they are building a new MRT station for the new MRT Xinyi line
-they are also fixing that section of the Jianguo Overpass right now
I’d ask for a significant price reduction.[/quote]
man, they are expanding the taipei MRT like crazy. where it takes most cities decades to build their network, taiwan is taking less than half the time. here in LA, we just have like 4 lines and construction have been at a snail’s pace. nobody takes it cuz the network is too small so you still need a car to get anywhere. your MRT prices are already so much cheaper than in the u.s.[/quote]
um, its taking decades…I came here 2 decades ago, been building it the whole time…
[/quote]
