The lack of a sacrificial offering doesn't appear to have enraged the Gods, however. According to Liu, if all goes to plan and the number of volunteers remains consistently high, the structure will be completed on schedule sometime in the coming week.
Once completed, organizers hope that passersby will be not only look on in wonder, but also be forced to compare their concrete-heavy cramped and expensive apartments with Hsieh's vision of affordable and easily assembled housing for the masses.
"Concrete is so ugly, expensive and has its limitations. More importantly, however, it's not environmentally friendly," Hsieh said. "Wood and such materials are natural parts of our environment, much easier to use and, of course, a lot cheaper and much nicer to look at. Which, after all, is what we're trying to say."
There are no plans to incorporate the finished building into museum property. Instead, when the current exhibition finishes on Sept. 22, the house will be dismantled and shipped down to Nantou County, where it will be re-erected as part of Hsieh's on-going re-housing project.
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