Lol, Poagao! Great pic. Perhaps (and hopefully) Taipei will evolve into something more aesthetically pleasing than THAT 10-20 years from now.
Wealth and Democracy are still fairly new concepts in Taiwan. Taipei is still a relic of the martial law era, and even the youngest generation is sapped of any and all creative energy by an outdated, corrupt, repressive and inefficient education system. From the very beginning of a Taiwanese person’s life, practicality and work ethic take precedence over anything else, especially imagination. In Taiwan, there exists only a minuscule amount of appreciation for art, which is evident in many things, but especially it’s entertainment industry. There’s the National Palace Museum, of course. But then that’s a collection of works and sculptures hundreds to thousands of years old. Certainly nothing modern is even remotely comparable.
It isn’t unusual that this extreme lack of appreciation for art would translate into the architectural industry (if such a thing exists?). In Taiwan, there is merely a ‘building’ industry, a direct reflection of the working society’s mentality. This, coupled with mass greed and corruption (also a product of an educational system that corrodes one’s sense of self-worth), results in exactly what those of us who LIVE HERE see everyday.
The good news, however, (or perhaps the bad, depending on how it is interpreted) is that the children of this society are getting tired of having their creativity and emotions repressed. Too long have people had their lives thrown away because they came a few points short of passing “THE” test that will get them into the right middle school that will get them into the right high school that will get them into the right university and into the right job, blah, blah, blah…
Once an individual’s value and potential as a HUMAN BEING begins to be realized, we can certainly hope for positive change, not only in the aesthetics of architecture, but in all things. DAMN will I be happy when that day arrives. Until then, there are other ways to build awareness without ‘bitching’. How about reminding your friends how important their lives are, no matter how well they do on some test? How about showing a little love, compassion and RESPECT for each other.
We foreigners need not be invasive and overly critical outsiders. We have the ability to bring a different perspective to people, and if we presented our ideas more diplomatically, you might be surprised how much more positively people would respond.