Many many years ago in Hong Kong - I was told that people bought expensive cars - because there was no real way to show off your money unless you were so rich that your apartment could be identified.
There is a water spigot on the side of the building on the ground floor. It seems to just sprout from one of the supports. So who has the rights to use this water and who pays for it?
I don’t know if you guys have seen some of the work designed by this rising architect Kris Yao, but they’re really beautiful and hopefully will improve Taiwan’s architectural environment. Hopefully, you all will eventually stop bitching. (;>)
Well, I took a look at the link and … an improvement? I guess. A little bit, at least for one or two of the office blocks. Fewer toilet tiles, at least.
But “really beautiful?” In a monstrous suppurating carbuncle kind of way? I suppose.
Those buildings pictured, especially the residential ones, are absolutely DISGUSTING looking! Brick rabbit hutches like the worst of 80s British council housing. Can you say Barrett Homes?
And the photos are misleading – I’m pretty sure I’ve visited “The Village” and its horrible, totally horrible – squashed together houses like some kind of legoland nightmare, where every window in the house looks straight into someone elses place…
Environmental and aesthetic awareness is a problem in Taiwan. Having grown up there, I wholly agree with the toilet tile thing, the coldness in winter. But like another poster said, there are some bars and restaurants that are just beautiful.
Regarding nature, I tend to think that there are almost 2 competing philosophies in Chinese culture. One is daoism, which really embraces the environment in its natural state. You can really see this through a lot of paintings. The other is confucianism, which seeks to control nature.
The tile has to go. Has anyone seen any hardwood floors in Taiwan? This might be a good business to go into.
I think the big DIY chains have pretty much cornered the market on self-install hardwood floors.
quote:
Originally posted by THYRDRAIL: I don't know if you guys have seen some of the work designed by this rising architect Kris Yao, but they're really beautiful and hopefully will improve Taiwan's architectural environment. Hopefully, you all will eventually stop bitching. (;>)
As you said about yourself in the “First Impressions…” thread, you don’t really know Taiwan from your own experience. You were born in Taiwan but grew up in the States. The folks who are “bitching” actually LIVE in the ROC. They base their impressions on the whole picture, not just exceptional examples of fine architechture in a sea of mediocrity and crappy construction. If you actually lived in Taiwan, you’d know what they are on about.
ABCguy24 would get extremely testy about any comment that he percived as being negative about Taiwan ( which was just about everything ), because he assumed that it was coming from a racist perspective. To him dissing Taiwan was tantamount to wholesale anti-asian bigotry. You don’t have to be white, “western”, or racist to observe that, in general, Taiwan is an architechtural wasteland.
Finish carpenters are quite talented in Taiwan. They can do wonders with thin veneer and plywood. There are also some very creative design ideas - it’s what’s under the veneer that’s scarey.
I agree Taiwan’s architecture lags in general compared to more advanced countries. But I don’t think ALL of Taiwan’s buildings are atrocious. That’s why I was pointing out a website I’ve seen with pics of nicely designed structures in Taiwan which illustrated that. And I don’t think I have to actually physically be somewhere to get a glimpse of a picture of a building or of a neighborhood. The internet is a powerful tool you know. Loaded with detailed pictures.
I can totally understand ABCGuy’s resentment. Reading all these posts written primarily by expatriates and foreigners, it seems as if you all are extremely critical of Taiwan. I hardly see anyone saying anything nice about the country. It’s like a bitch and moan forum here. I think you guys are comparing Taiwan too much to your own home countries (I’m assuming primarily America and maybe Europe). Well it isn’t!! So maybe you shouldn’t expect so much.
Regarding architecture, I do think there are some nice buildings in Taiwan, some that have been designed by WESTERN architects, and yet I don’t see any of you making any positive comments about anything. Like I read a post criticizing the new Core Pacifi City mall, which I think is a really awesome-looking mall, and designed by an AMERICAN architect. Yet nobody said it was nice; somebody was bitching about the traffic pattern. Then I read someone’s post bitching about the new Taipei subway station about how there’s no traffic pattern too. DESPITE the traffic pattern, I wish somebody would’ve complimented how clean and modern it looks. It sure as hell is a lot cleaner and modern and nicer-looking than New York City subway system!! Hell, I wish NYC’s system is like that. God knows we have a third world system - reeks of urine, trains are old, and stations are crappy despite recent renovations. So all you expats and visitors, how bout saying nicer things about a country you are currently residing in and appreciating the positive aspects??? Don’t always focus on the negative. Counterbalance the negative comments with more positive ones. Don’t perpetuate the stereotype of the “Ugly American”. And yes, I am guilty of it myself as well. But at least I’m conscious of it.
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Originally posted by Alien: I keep looking at this wonderful old house off [i]ShiT[/i]a Road...
Why do people keep spelling it that way? Is this some kind of in joke on Oriented? Otherwise, could we make it either Shida or Shihta, please?
quote:
Originally posted by thyrdrail: Regarding architecture, I do think there are some nice buildings in Taiwan, some that have been designed by WESTERN architects, and yet I don't see any of you making any positive comments about anything. Like I read a post criticizing the new Core Pacifi City mall, which I think is a really awesome-looking mall, and designed by an AMERICAN architect. Yet nobody said it was nice;
Thyrdrail, what in the name of christ difference does the nationality of the architect matter? If anything is racist, that is!
And what, you only read one post criticizing the Living Death Mall? Look harder, there are many. Why? Because the place is a total fucking eyesore. From the outside, there are 1950s gasworks that look nicer, and the inside?
Do you know that the shop leasers there are losing money hand over fist because the design inside is so complicated and so people-unfriendly (so I’m not up on design jargon, so sue me) that people can’t stand to be in there?
That heap of shite is a disgrace and there are many, many people here who are furious that it ever got planning permission. So the architect is an Amrican? That could explain it – he was probably on crack when he drew the pictures!
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Originally posted by sandman:Thyrdrail, what in the name of christ difference does the nationality of the architect matter? If anything is racist, that is!
Differing design aesthetics due to cultural differences/education??? Why is pointing this out considered racist???
Sorry, O’Brien, I got the impression that Thyrdrail was implying racism in the fact that people are putting down Asian architects but not Western ones.
My point is that most of them are as bad as each other, that’s all. No offense intended (except towards half-blind architects that couldn’t draw a… a… a… wine cork! OK, so maybe that’s reaching a little far for the metaphor).
Exactly O’Brian. And it’s not racist of me to point out that many of the architects of structures built in Taiwan are westerners. Because it’s OBVIOUS when people come to Taiwan, like yourself Sandman, they will scream, “CHRIST…LOOK AT ALL THESE FREAKING UGLY BUILDINGS!!! THESE TAIWANESE PEOPLE DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT DESIGN!!!” Therefore it’s important for me to point out the nationalities of these architects whom are supposedly EXPERTS since they are WESTERN and know EVERYTHING about tasteful aesthetics. Where they come from, there are NO such things as ugly buildings!!! Every one is just gorgeous!!! I guess the buildings they build in Taiwan disproves that fact, buddy!!! Maybe there’s something about the island, the air or water maybe, that causes foreign architects to lose their usual brilliant creativity that have helped them to build beautiful buildings back home and build such damn ugly ones here!!! How’s that for a theory???
Sandman, you should be one of the LAST people to critique architecture. You are sooo blatantly critical and negative about everything. (And not just architecture, btw.) You don’t know how to constructively criticize. You just say “This is ugly!! That’s ugly!!! Every goddamn thing around me is friggin ugly!! Waaa waaaa waaaa!!” It may be ugly to you and the other 20 or so regular people who frequent this forum to bitch, but it’s not ugly to a lot of other people. And to say that the mall isn’t making money is due to design complications is bogus. How bout the fact that the economy is kinda weak, and the retail business in general isn’t doing that great??? AND the fact that there have been numerous mall openings in various cities around the country (at least 20 reported in one paper) and that competition is fierce??
I would love to go to your country and criticize it to death. “That building is ugly!! That church is ugly!! This subway system has horrible traffic pattern!! People keep on bumping into me during rush hour!!! This mall is horrible!! There’s too many stores!! Their design is sooo ugly I don’t want to shop here anymore even tho I like Banana Republic clothes and that should have nothing to do with the mall design!!! Waaaa waaaaa waaaaaaaaa!!!”
Listen, Thyrdrail. I don’t like the vast majority of modern architecture, as a general rule. Period. Its got sod-all to do with who designed it or where it is. Those references are ALL YOURS.
What the hell is your problem?
Oh, and as for your crack about my lack of critical abilities, well, I’m sorry not to be able to indulge in discourse to your heady level – “Core Pacific Mall is awesome” I must agree is far, far more eloquent and critically astute than anything I could have dreamed up.
And yeah, one more thing. Take look at the last graf of my first post on this thread. Or maybe its the word “nice” you object to for its obvious subjectivity… No, that can’t be it – after all, you yourself use it many times in your extremely objective, lancet-like critiques.
…tiles…lots of them…
Oh man, O’Brien, you are going straight to HELL for that one, boy!
I remember Wolfendale from the SCMP. Glad to see he’s still doing his thing.
Thanks for the link.
My problem with you Sandman, for the umpteenth time, is that you’re sooooo hyper critical. Regarding my comment on Artech, you use terms like
“monstrous suppurating carbuncle, absolutely DISGUSTING, brick rabbit hutches like the worst of 80s British council housing.” What’s with the melodramatic characterizations?? If you didn’t like it, just say you didn’t like it!! You didn’t have to jump down my throat. Chill out, man. It was just my opinion, geesh. I’m sorry I even pointed it out. What’s my problem?? What’s YOUR problem??? Then in your other posts you’re constantly calling things ugly, ugly, ugly. Enuff already. I get the point.
Interesting article. Some things that popped out:
“One of Taipei’s few urban conceits is that it fancies it has a traffic problem. In fact the streets are wide with a bump and rumble that tells of fast and furious resurfacings. The freeways are expanding usefully. The 272 bus from The Sun Yat Sen Memorial to Chunghua Road took me across the heart of the city centre in 30 minutes on a Saturday afternoon.”
Well, what the hell happened to all that infamous nasty traffic everybody in this forum was talking about???
“Following Tokyo and Seoul, building fascias are of small bathroom tiles in whites, oranges, yellows and greens.”
- Looks like Taipei ain’t the only city using bathroom tiles huh? They’re copying other cities’ building aesthetics!!
“At the cross with Yenchi Street, an inaugural Starbucks is unwrapping itself. This is the side of the city that demonstrates Taipei has earned its right of passage to join the other slick Asian capitals. It is still an ugly duckling because it has almost no architecture from times past when men of rank cared for aesthetics. Today it is on a par with its Asian contemporaries.”
- Well, that’s positive and an improvement, isn’t it??
“Taipei may not have a lot to show, but what does have is genuine.”
- The kewlest part of all.
Read the article about Singapore, which is pretty hilarious. I think the comparisons of both cities’ problems are interesting. Seems like reversed and they should swap.
Parchute journalism is offensive to those of us who actually live here and know a thing or two.