The distinctive blue sign on the roof the Taipei Railway Station is to be removed to improve Taipei’s “urban aesthetics,” Taipei City Government and Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) officials said.
Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) on Thursday night said that with the sign temporarily removed because of an ongoing project to refurbish the station’s roof, he made a suggestion to TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) to remove the sign permanently.
Lin said that the functions of public buildings should not be conveyed in words, as the buildings themselves should be sufficient to make their purposes known, adding that the sign would probably violate the principles based on which regulations to mend and remove decrepit billboards and signs were designed.
He recommended that the TRA logo be put up instead of the train station’s sign.
With the recent demolition of an onramp connected to the Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋), the city government late last month announced that it would start putting restrictions on signs and billboards around the historic North Gate (北門) on Zhongxiao W Road.
To regulate advertisements, the Taipei Department of Urban Development said that it had delimited three areas according to the impact billboards and signs have on the view in the North Gate’s surroundings, with “area one” — which includes advertisements displayed on three sides immediately facing the North Gate — having been subjected to the strictest rules on advertisement management.
“Area three,” where the station is located, covers most parts of Gongyuan Road, Guanqian Road and Zhongxiao W Road.
Department division chief Luo Wen-ming (羅文明) said that signs that are too bright or colorful would be banned in area one.
Luo said that because rules for area three have not yet been finalized, the fate of advertisements in the area would be decided by the city’s Urban Design Review Committee.
When asked why the station’s sign, being neither an advertisement nor bright or colorful, was targeted, Luo reiterated Lin’s reasoning for the signs’ removal.
Meanwhile, Chou said that he agreed with Lin, calling the sign “unnecessary.”
Chou said that he would ask calligraphers to write two pieces bearing the station’s name and display the artworks at the north and south entrances of the station.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was discreet when asked about the issue.
“I was never good at art… I am not suited to comment on how to improve urban aesthetics to make the city more beautiful,” he said.
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