2021 London Festival of Architecture to feature Films on Taiwan’s architecture

LONDON, England – The Cultural Division of Taipei Representative Office in the UK has collaborated with organizers of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA) to present at the festival’s digital platform the episodes featuring Taiwan’s architecture of the “Inside the Arts” series produced by the Public Television Service (PTS).

The 2021 London Festival of Architecture will take place from June 1 to June 30. It is expected that the PTS films will enhance the understanding of the cultural essence and development of Taiwan’s architecture among the public in Britain.

Combining the physical and online format this year, the LFA’s curatorial team noted that the world has experienced tremendous turbulence amidst the pandemic, and technology, though it has brought a sense of alienation, remains an indispensable way for people to keep interaction.

The architecture industry needs to think about how to recreate a sense of connection between individuals and to extend the care and concern towards the community. Therefore, “care” was chosen as the theme for this year’s festival.

The London architecture festival has selected three documentary films from “Inside the Art” series which reflect the thoughts and practice of Taiwan’s architecture circles regarding the festival’s theme.

Watching the “Parasitic Temples: A record of a city adapting to survive,” the audience may follow the steps of Taiwanese architect Po Wei-lai to observe small temples on street corners, which embody the psychological need of the people, using ubiquitous, polytheistic, pervasive, and wondrous adaptation techniques to form parasitic relationships with the urban environment.

“The Toad Mountain Settlement & Her Friends,” details the lives of residents at Huanmin New Village, a military dependents’ village located on Toad Mountain in Taipei’s Gongguan District, and the activities that the residents initiated to preserve the village, upon learning that with the passing of the Dependents Village Reform Act, they would have to leave their quaint houses after have lived there for decades.

“Tribal Architecture for the People” is an episode featuring architect Hsieh Ying-Chun and his team, showing Hsieh’s architectural philosophy and practical process in depth. After the 921 earthquake in 1999, Hsieh’s team has involved in the reconstruction of damaged areas. The film shows how Hsieh and his team had worked with the Thao indigenous tribe to rebuild their tribal village with an integral system of light steel structure.

Over the years, Hsieh’s team was found in disaster-stricken areas, including Taitung’s Majia Farm and Laiji Village of the Cou tribe in Taiwan, and devastated regions in Sichuan, Tibet, and Nepal. Their endeavor echoes the concern of the architectural circle towards issues such as sustainable living in the natural environment and balancing public value and individual creativity in urban infrastructure.