Bedtime Architectural Stories

  Long time ago there is a small country which has been infused with Confucius ethos and Westernized system. It is a curious mixture and it is fascinating how it opereate. As soon as you stepped onto this land, immediately you are connected to the vitality of the street life and the warm welcoming attitude from its citizens. Streets are congested, however paradoxically they are made up of low density dwellings, that's especially the case with cities outside of the capital city Taipei. You would find that they are primarily composed of  two or three level units and usually the first level is used as shop or parlor.  As Jane Jacob points out in her book 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities, if a city's streets look interesting, the city looks interesting, if they look dull, the city look dull. Usually big congested city leaves you an unpleasant impression, however, the cities in Taiwan offer you an aperture into the peaceful ordinary lives that fade into the backgro...

Long time ago there is one man who is very wealthy, he studied mathematics and computer science but made his fortune though implementing a gambling system. Then he started to collect art. His collections are quite massive to the extent that there is no place to store them. He was thinking of why not design a museum to store the collections? This is the story behind the birth of MONA - Museum of Old and New. Over the years, MONA has been received with popularity, in spite of its relatively remote location. It becomes not only a container for art, but also an event space for wedding functions.                        Architectural strategies employed in MONA - Spatial organisation. Three storey void transforms the space and our sensations drastically. This creation of ‘nothingness’ is a perceptual bombardment to us. Sometimes it is not about the presence, but the absence.  - Materiality. MONA is an amalgam of sandstone and pr...

Long time ago there is a small city that sits within mountain and sea. It is so beautiful so that mountain is in your sight everywhere you go, this even happens to the city center. Citizens are dancing on the public space chess table, or spending the whole morning or afternoon in the outdoor area of the pub, sipping the infamous Cascade Lagar, wandering around the street, stepping onto historical brick pavement, connecting with enclosed heritage buildings. It is almost like a Harry Potter world. I would like to think that it is one of the best example of an idyll. This city is Hobart.   Here, heritage is not wasted artefact. Each building is a hesitant, a careful negotiation between tradition and emerging desires / functional requirement, they are carefully reappropriated as jewellery workshop, wool factory, cafes and shops. There is depth in the making of the city in contrast to the shamelessness of utilitarian efficiency.                 ...