Planning, History, Place

In the 1950s, as a reflection on Modernism, the idea of Regionalism tried to restore a human environment and create buildings that contain humanistic feelings. This was exactly the period when the idea of “Modernist Chinese Architecture” began to sprout in Taiwan, and it was also the beginning of the Nationalist Government’s effort to consolidate its power in Taiwan. With the increasing of political influence and the contraction of free creative, the “Revival Style of Ming Qing Palace” gradually became a dominated force in Taiwan architecture. The unique regional architecture, which should have been rooted in Taiwan as a “real” representative, was transformed into a “false” style with traditional oriental charm. 

At the end of 1970s, the second generation of local Taiwanese architects headed by Han Bao-De began to pay attention to the research and preservation of traditional Taiwanese architecture, but they focused more on “representational” Regionalism dominated by vocabulary. 

In the 1990s, as the society embraced the Post-Martial Law period, community development gradually emerged. The objects for Taiwan architects to concern progressively expanded to the folk and diverse ethnic groups. Among the numerous architects who care about the local environment in Yilan, Fieldoffice Architects emerged in this era is a typical representative. Comparing with the exciting but empty regional manifestations appeared during the Martial-Law Period in Yilan, the Fieldoffice’s practice is able to better connect the real local environment and life. However, the Fieldoffice’s Works is often hailed as a model of Yilan’s regional architecture, and even widely misunderstood as representing the regional style of Yilan. In this frequent or even flooding use, the “Regionalism” has been blurred into a sensational expression which is unable to specifically refer to the architectural style produced under a certain operation method with clear consciousness. 

Therefore, this research firstly combs the history of Western architecture to clarify the exact meaning of “Regionalism” and its criticism; secondly, explores the “Regional” architecture developed under the influence of the special political atmosphere in Taiwan; thirdly, reviews the “Regional” buildings produced by the Fieldoffice and discusses the so-called Yilan Style with the possibility of misunderstanding; finally, examines the four cases of the Fieldoffice’s work (Zhuangwei Dune, Cherry Orchard Cemetery, Luodong Cultural Working House, and Jhong-Shan Elementary School gymnasium). This research analyzes Fieldoffice Architects’ attitude towards “spatial experience” from the perspective of space and time, as well as the practicing methods of environmental design, to interpret the characteristics of space practice expressed by its “placeness”.

Keywords: Modern Architecture; Yilan Practice; Regionalism; Locality; Spatial Experience