Richard Rogers may be one of the greatest living architects, but he is far less well known than the buildings he designs. The Pompidou Center, Millennium Dome and Lloyd’s of London are among the more iconic structures that testify to Rogers’ unique vision. A retrospective exhibit at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Richard Rogers + Architects: From the House to the City offers a comprehensive look at the architect’s career over the past 40 years.
“It’s nice to know that although we’ve toured the exhibition, this is the grandest space so far. The smallest space was London,” Ivan Harbour, a partner at Rogers’ architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, quipped at a preview of the show.
Rogers, who missed the opening due to the death of a close friend, works and lives in London. Harbour and Graham Stirk were on hand to introduce the exhibit.
“We’ve been working in Taiwan for about 10 years now. We’ve built two modest buildings in Kaohsiung and been involved in many competitions — all of which we’ve lost,” Harbour said.
Harbour’s self-deprecating humor corresponds with Rogers’ approach to architecture, which is both playful and human-centered. Underlying the levity, however, is a concern “with the processes of construction and the way that people relate to the buildings around them.” It is an ethos that they’ve applied to this show.
Each of the nine thematic areas — Early Work, Transparent, Lightweight, Legible, Green, Public, Systems, Urban and Work in Progress — offer visitors a grounding in the ideas that inform Rogers’ approach to architecture. Together they include 78 new and archive models, 80 drawings, 160 photographs, 22 videos and a timeline illustrating the development of Rogers’ architectural practice. Arranged in easily digestible color-coded blocks, there are designs of airports, galleries, courts and government buildings, as well as housing projects, each accompanied with explanations of materials used and purpose of construction.
The two Kaohsiung-based buildings Harbour alluded to illustrate Rogers’ ideas of space and how buildings should suit the environment within which they are erected.
The Ching Fu Group Headquarters (慶富船運大樓) with its exposed columns and primary color finishings recalls the Pompidou Center, but here with the addition of external glass boxes that serve as meeting rooms and offer views of the harbor. Built between 2005 and 2007, the self-cooling structure is an example of the kind of energy-saving building ideally suited for Taiwan’s climate.
Whereas the Ching Fu building emphasizes environmental concerns, the R9 Central Park Station (捷運R9中央公園站) on the Kaohsiung MRT’s red line exemplifies Rogers’ belief that a building should fit fluidly within its surroundings.
The design merges the concourse with the surrounding landscape, enabling the station to seamlessly unite with the expansive greenery of the park. A 50m-by-50m aluminum canopy lets natural light in while reflecting the sun’s glare and protecting passengers from the rain.
Remarking candidly at the press conference on Rogers’ comprehensive approach to architecture, Christine Skinner, outgoing director of the British Council, said the Taipei City Government could learn a thing or two from the exhibit.
“There are parts of Taipei that have obviously been developed in a holistic way,” she said referring to Xinyi (信義) and Neihu (內湖) districts.
“But there are other parts of Taipei where that planning is not happening and buildings are conceived one by one ... [Y]ou do get a feeling that not a lot of urban planning has gone on and I think that is something that Taipei in particular needs to put right,” she said.
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George.” Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. “They’re playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats,” he said from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the
No one saw it coming. Everyone — including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — expected at least some of the recall campaigns against 24 of its lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) to succeed. Underground gamblers reportedly expected between five and eight lawmakers to lose their jobs. All of this analysis made sense, but contained a fatal flaw. The record of the recall campaigns, the collapse of the KMT-led recalls, and polling data all pointed to enthusiastic high turnout in support of the recall campaigns, and that those against the recalls were unenthusiastic and far less likely to vote. That
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed. The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, the US and to friendly Western nations. This made some sense prior to early last month. One of the main arguments used by recall campaigners for recalling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers was that they were too pro-China, and by extension not to be trusted with defending the nation. Also by extension, that argument could be
The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu (白酒), long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times. Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60 percent alcohol. It’s the usual choice for toasts of gan bei (乾杯), the Chinese expression for bottoms up, and raucous drinking games. “If you like to drink spirits and you’ve never had baijiu, it’s kind of like eating noodles but you’ve never had spaghetti,” said Jim Boyce, a Canadian writer and wine expert who founded World Baijiu Day a decade
RSS