Month: October 2018

The Matriarch – Taiwanese Architectural History

In my continuation of colonization and migrations impacts on architecture, Leila and  I made a visit to what is now Fort Anping Tainan, Taiwan. The Dutch and the Spanish overlapped in their occupation of Taiwan but eventually the Dutch needed Spanish Formosa (see last weeks blog), and they fought for it. The Dutch let the Spanish know that there was no possibility of co-existence.  Tainan is approximately 310 KM south of Tamsui and located on the South West coast. The Dutch & Spanish occupied different regions of Taiwan at the same time.  In 1642 when the Dutch realized the Spanish location at the northernmost point of Taiwan had prime real estate with access to modern day Northern China, Korea, and Japan, they made it their mission to take Fort Formosa by force. And with the growing Dutch East India Company, the Dutch were willing to fight to grow their business. Taiwan was a targeted location because the Dutch were unsuccessful in establishing trade posts in Mainland China. In 1624, they actually tried, and the Ming Dynasty was too powerful.  And, to give you context, both Tamsui and Tainan both had thriving independent cultures that were self sufficient. The narrative that indigenous cultures need to be saved by colonizers is a myth.  If anything, when the Dutch arrived to Tainan in 1624, they immediately upset the ecological balance with excessive hunting and fishing. Taiwanese people are fairly congenial, I imagine that when the Dutch arrived, they didn’t pull out the swords immediately. The Dutch were ousted by the Qing Dynasty, Koxinga, in 1662. (The Qing Dynasty took over from the Ming Dynasty in 1636) The treaty basically said you can take your personal belongings and your slaves. We will keep the goods you’ve accumulated from trade and the fort, and we aren’t paying you for anything in it. In return, you get to live.

So, the site is a bit misleading.  What you see upon arrival is a Fort that has been re-built with Japanese, Chinese, and Western influence. The site is the original site of the Dutch Fort Zeelandia, but the only original area of the fort is semi-circle of bricks located on the East side.  During Japanese rule, Fort Zeelandia was in complete ruins and fully deserted and the Japanese decided to invest in its preservation and beautification. The brick walls surrounding the fort were built by the Japanese, using a Japanese architectural style, in 1896. In 1930, the Japanese built a Western Style exhibit space for cultural remembrance. The scouting deck was built in 1945 to monitor surroundings post-Japanese occupation, and in 1975, the tower rebuilt during the time we will consider Modern Taiwan. This site represents much of what led me to this particular investigation of colonization and migration. On one site, in a city in Tainan,Taiwan, there are five different architectural cultural influences — Japanese, Western, Ming (China), Qing (China), Modern Taiwan, and The Dutch.  How can you have harmony in architecture when the cultural mix of styles is so different? For additional images see link.

The Matriarch – Making Friends

My daughter is an incredibly social person. She is energized from being around people, and is always looking for ways to connect. At her school, she’s acclimated quickly and has started to make friends. She even finds ways to meet people in our neighborhood on the playground. It’s an admirable quality but so far from a personal priority for me. Even if I had time, there is a real sense (from my perspective) that there is a  “family-first”. I’ve spoken with two different moms that had a regularly scheduled weekly dinner with their parents every weekend. The “play date” seems low on the priority list. During holidays, it seems that Taiwanese residents make seeing family a priority. To make up for this shift in social time, I decided to enroll her in some weekend classes where she can meet up with friends. As for me, I grew up in a relatively social isolating place, so the idea of placing my social needs on the back burner has been a part of my modus operandi for quite a while.

Taiwan Life – High Speed Rail

Leila and I took the Taiwan High Speed Rail to Tainan over the weekend and it was glorious.  After her Saturday morning soccer class, we went to the train station and headed South to Tainan. We were home before bedtime.  This trip by car would have taken us 8 hours round trip, but on the Saturday train, we were in Tainan just under two hours. This saved us from an overnight stay, and I was able to make the trip easily on the weekend. A round trip ticket to Tainan is approximately $60.

The Architect  – Spanish Colonization, Fort San Domingo, and Aboriginal Resistance

This week Leila and I traveled 45 minutes North of Taipei to visit Tamsui  where the Spanish Formosa, a former Spanish colony is located. Formosa is a Portuguese name that was given to Taiwan by Portuguese sailors in 1544 meaning “beautiful”.  Tamsui lives up to its name.  There are mountains surrounding the convergence of the Tamsui River and the Tamsui Strait. The native plants and flowers are robust.  The Spanish colonized this area of Taiwan in 1626 in an effort to bolster trade.

Marco Polo popularized the desire to trade in Asia with his accounts, Book of the Marvels of the World. In late 1400’s Spain was aggressively seeking to find a quicker route to China from Europe in search of spices. Christopher Columbus certain that if he sailed West, he would find China a shorter route to China, mistakenly ran into what is present day North America.  This mistake in route delayed the exploration to China for another one hundred years.  The Spanish did not reach China until 1520 when Magellan landed in Cebu in the Philippines.

In 1626, the Spanish arrival in Taiwan was met with immediate rejection by the aboriginal culture.  The original Fort San Domingo built in 1628 was made from wood. Tamsui aboriginals defended the land and burned the first Spanish fort down.  Just as the new Spanish Fort was being constructed, the Dutch threatened a hostile take over and eventually succeeded.  The viceroy of the Philippine commanded the troops to withdraw from Tamsui.  The Dutch renamed the fort, St. Anothony and began to increase trade routes and build the Dutch East India Company.  Spanish Formosa  is now preserved as historic site.

While walking through Tamsui, you can see evidence of European architecture.  If you compare the Spanish architecture to the Vernacular architecture of the Lin Family Mansion and Garden it is quite different.  Spanish Formosa is uniquely situated in Tamsui as a neighborhood that is a confined area, but stands out from the context of Taiwan.  The Spanish and Dutch occupied these areas as colonizers and the British leased the site from 1868-1972 as a consulate and ambassadors residence.   In each instance, the European nations transferred a style of architecture directly to Taiwan without adapting for context.  The visual evidence of colonization is strong as the architecture presents a strong contrast to the architecture of Taiwan.  You can see more photo documentation of the neighborhood from our visit.

 

The Matriarch – You can protest & complain, but you must also vote.

The process of voting absentee from Taipei for the United States election has not been so convenient in Taipei.  There are a few steps before you can return your ballot and it requires in the state of New York at a minimum of two – three international mailings per election.  This means a post-office visit, locating a printer,  navigating a printer/computer that may be set up with settings in Mandarin, and paying for international shipping.  The computer and printer in my office is set up on A4 paper and the ballot will not print as required by New York State. So, I’ve had to locate another printer on campus to print the ballots with the appropriately sized paper.  There are two separate mailings required for federal and state, and the federal ballot was only made accessible since October 4.  I’m a highly motivated voter, but I imagine, with the level of inconvenience, that many people will not participate in the process from abroad. I’ve mailed my ballot, but it took several steps.

I’m also embarrassed and disappointed to say that I missed the primary because it aligned with my recent arrival, and I couldn’t manage to make all of the above happen in the first week that I arrived.  Voting in general should be easier. Many nights after working a full day and picking up Leila from school, I’ve had to run into the local elementary to vote in the pouring rain before making her dinner.  I’ve also woken up an hour before work and tried this process in reverse.  I’ve run into more than a few people, who have decided to avoid participating in this cumbersome process because (they  live in a state where the election, “really” doesn’t matter”), or they think a specific candidate will already win.  Or, they are still waiting for a ballot to be mailed since every state has its own process.  With elections being so close, every vote does count and the absentee turnout has the power to predict some of these close elections.

Life in Taipei – Culture of  Niceness

My Taipei observation this week is about the people. There have been several incidents of genuine and authentic niceness that have  stood out on my visit.   Taiwanese locals have join goodness to Leila and I at most every opportunity.  We’ve been lost and looked at a map too long, and a stranger will walk up, declare that they speak English and offer to help.  I’m in the process of learning Mandarin, and most people are very patient as I make attempts with my broken grammar and unfortunate pronunciations as I try to figure out the language. Even when I first arrived, most people were apologetic if their English wasn’t strong enough, if they couldn’t help me in a situation, where we couldn’t communicate. (I recognize that people in the United States would not offer the same courtesy for tourist or visitors.) 

Taipei is a city of of over 2.5 million people, but in my neighborhood, there are local businesses and the people who work there, who interact with Leila and I daily that give you a sense that you are from a small town.  Every week, Leila and I purchase fruit from the same fruit stand near our corner.  As we were dumping our trash one evening, we placed our weekly fruit order, and let the group from the fruit stand know that we’d be returning to pick up the fruit on our way back home.  Leila and I ended up getting sidetracked and found an art store and lost track of time.  When we returned home, she had already left for the day, but gave the noodle stand on the corner to give the fruit to us when we had returned.  We stopped by the next day to give her the money for the fruit, but again, this doesn’t really happen in New York.  This is not an isolated incident.  I left my pen at the Family Mart on National Taiwan Universities campus, when I returned the next day, the cashier gave it to me.  I didn’t even realize I even left it. And, if you need an umbrella, there is a stand in the subway station with a group of umbrella that says, “please take one.” 

There is an element of congeniality in everyday interactions. Even if Leila is playing with a child’s toy on the playground and is enjoying it, the Taiwanese parent insists that she take it.  The people here seem to be working very hard to make sure that we feel welcome and this has been a pleasant surprise.  Before we departed for Taipei, the most common prediction that I heard about our future journey is that the food would be good and the people are very nice.  Even with having this expectation, the actual experience has far exceeded my expectations on both accounts.  

The fruit stand next door had to close early before we returned from dumping the trash. She gave the noodle guy our fruit so that when we returned we’d have it.  No one asked for money. It’s the honor system. We’ll get it tomorrow. And, if you need an umbrella, there is a stand that says, oh it’s raining and you forgot your umbrella, just take one of these.

 

The Architect – What are the impacts of colonization & migration on Taiwanese architecture?

When I was in high school, I took a World History class in hopes to get a broader perspective of history.  I was one of two African American students in the class. When we reached the Chapter on Africa, the teacher completely skipped it and moved on to the “Middle East”.  We requested a meeting with the teacher to ask why she would skip an entire continent. She was polite, but conveniently said that she skipped it because the Chapter was outdated.  It likely was, since the entire book was outdated, but it was difficult to understand how she could teach a world history class and leave out part of the world. Unfortunately, architectural history and art history have also been taught with a very limited lens and scope.  For the pre-requisite for the Master of Architecture degree, I had to take two Art History courses and while in graduate school, I had to take an additional two Architectural History and Theory courses. Most courses would make mention of Egypt, then Greece, Italy, and the remainder of Europe. Colonization and migration impacts culture, social systems, and architectural space. I am a contextualist, and I seek to understand the context for which spaces are created.  In visiting Treasure Hill and Toad Mountain, I became increasingly aware that I needed a better understanding of the architectural history and spatial and social forces of Taiwan

The city of Taipei has a unique tapestry of architectural styles, and throughout Taiwan, there are a variety of building representations.  My sense is that diverse cultural variables have impacted the look and feel of the city. This was of particular note as I was walking through Treasure Hill and Toad Mountain and noticing very stylized spatial conditions. What guided the decision making? The cultural context from where they migrated or the current context in which they lived?

Taiwanese indigenous cultures date back to 3000 BC and there are currently over 800,000 indigenous people living in Taiwan currently.  In 1628, the Spanish built a fort in Northern Taiwan that was eventually taken over by the Dutch in 1642. In the 18th Century the Han Chinese migrated to Taiwan and Hakka’s from the Fuijan and Guangdong province of China.  (Separately, the Fujian province is known for a very particular style of Chinese vernacular architecture.) In 1662, the Dutch were driven out by the Ming Dynasty, and the former was defeated by the Qing Dynasty in 1682. In 1895 after, the Qing Dynasty turned over Taiwan to Japan. In 1945, the Republic of China ceded Japan.  This is a condensed view of history to illustrate the vast potential for cultural impact. Even in the layers of colonization, cultures such as China, Japan, and migrants from China also contribute to the aesthetic.

From the  collage below, you can see that within one neighborhood there are a variety of styles.  In the coming weeks, I’ll be featuring a building from each period of occupation. This week’s spatial exploration was built during the Qing Dynasty.  I toured the “Lin Mansion & Garden” located in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The style is characterized as Fujianese style.  This style can be characterized with red roof tiles, brick walls, and centralized courtyards.  The Lin Family migrated from Zhangzhou, Fujian province in mainland China in 1784. The family built wealth through rice trading, and eventually real estate. The estate currently is partially open to the public for tours and viewing.  Rather than walk you through with extensive descriptions, I’ll let you view the photos below.  Since Leila is my co-researcher on weekends, and her attention span has a a time limit; we only toured the exterior. I’ll be returning for the interior perspectives in a follow-up visit.

The Matriarch + Life in Taipei – Moon Festival 

On September 24, Taiwan celebrated the Moon Festival and Leila enjoyed a day home from school.  The city was quiet. Most of our friends had left to celebrate with extended family since it is a very family centered holiday.  Just after Moon Festival, we were invited by a Taiwanese Family for a moon cake making event at Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry. The family that extended the invitation also has a daughter very close to Leila’s age, so they immediately became best friends. The moon cake is a rich pastry with a red bean paste inserted inside.  If you have the main two ingredients, it is pretty easy to assemble the cakes. While the cakes were baking, the venue had an interactive museum-like tour that was followed by an area where the children could play games.