Monday, October 22, 2007

Artistic Statement_Final

Artistic Statement_Final



When I was young, I liked to decorate my room. I would move my furniture every week, and try to arrange them in different ways. Sometimes I even moved the furniture in the living room when everyone was sleeping. The next morning, my father had to put them back in the original place. I always asked him to keep them my way. From that time, I was interested in the elements of space. During the holidays, my father took me to visit monuments in our country. Because my country had been controlled by the Spanish, the Dutch and the Japanese, there are many buildings in Taiwan with diverse elements and characteristics. There are also a lot of traditional Chinese buildings, so one can observe and visit various architectures from different cultures and styles. When I was in a traditional Chinese temple, I count the words in the poetry of the wall to practice my mathematics. I found different shapes used in the space, such as a triangular prism, a cube room and a circle window to comprehend geometry. I can also learn the history of my country, because these monuments played important roles in the period our country’s development. They were used such as an administrative organization, a factory, a train station etc. These learning experiences made me familiar with architecture and want to be an architect to design my own building.

One day during my studies in university, I was shocked by a picture. It was a picture of Falling Water, a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He built the house in the waterfall, and let the building integrated with nature. When a season goes by, the scene and even the sound of the water flowing will change. This made me aware that architecture could combine with the environment and consider the function of the building and the people who are using it. So I took Wright as my exemplary person of architecture and hoped I could be an architect like him.

I like historic buildings. The atmosphere and wisdoms of ancient people usually allow me have different experiences. I have traveled in Beijing and Kyoto. They are both the traditional cities of eastern countries. In a cold morning with snow drifting, I saw an old person in Beijing using a mop with water to practice calligraphy in the plaza of the Temple of Heaven. Frigid weather let ancient poetry freeze on the tiles. It seemed to make a dialogue with the historical site. I was moved by this scene. During my trip to Kyoto, I saw people devoting themselves to the preservation of their traditional culture. They make the outward appearance of the residents consistent with the old monuments. Walking on the gravel pathway of a Japanese temple my mind was very peaceful; I enjoyed the tranquil moment. In these two places, people find ways to live in the historic cities. My visit made me comprehend the connection between the new and the old, the artifact and the nature, and history and culture.

One of my design works was to design an historic building. The historical building is in a significant campus of my university in Taiwan and was established by Japanese officer in 1933. I designed this historical architecture as a museum which will exhibit historic art works and be constructed to include a restaurant. So I Preserve the foundation of 1933 and renovate the interior of the building.
Moreover, I designed a corridor for visitors to watch and observe the truss which is the important structure of Taiwan architecture. Furthermore, I transformed the original two floors into three floors of the restaurant area so people could walk in a circle route and experience the special spaces of a historic building. I also open the elevation of the restaurant area to create a dialogue between indoor and outdoor.




Architecture is not only about designing a building but also considering how the building can be used for a long time. So I am also thinking about historic buildings management in Taiwan. They are almost becoming exhibition centers, but with fewer exhibitions, so they can not attract visitors. I think we can create more interesting activities there. For example, we can hold traditional wedding in the Confucius temple with the red lantern and historic buildings. The night market is a special diet culture in Taiwan. There are many vendors selling diverse foods at night. People usually go around the market and eat different kinds of food. I think we can make the historic warehouse a savory food center. People can enjoy delicious food in this building with its special structure and retrospective atmosphere. I believe that architecture should interact with people. People’s activities and behaviors can bring new vitality to the architecture. There are a lot of architecture heritages in different periods of time;we should consider how to re-use and preserve them.

Although the architecture designs in Taiwan are not the newest in the world, I still learn t a lot of things from the schools and the environment of my country. I believe that an architect should think and care about all the factors. We have to find out the problems or the characteristics of the site. Furthermore, our design has to respond to the environment. We should not only design a beautiful place, but also consider how people use the spaces. Moreover, we have to create our own style then use it as the concept of the design work. So while I am studying in Pratt Institute I want to learn more new ideas and theories of architecture and take the experiment of living in New York. In the future when I go back to Taiwan, I can use these resources to combine with our culture and social factors to plan the environment and design the buildings. I desire to become an architect and I will keep developing my knowledge and improving my ability.

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