Station foyer emojis
A recent news story that became popular was about the Taiwan Railways Administration’s decision to adorn the floor of Taipei Railway Station’s main hall with big smiling and laughing emojis (“Taipei Railway Station calls off ban on sitting,” July 13, page 1).
This choice of design is both puzzling and regrettable. Can Taiwanese culture really be so lacking in aesthetic sense?
Alongside the emojis are the words for “smile” in 10 different languages. This is the sort of design you might expect to find on a backpack or T-shirt.
What is the point of it? Besides, if they want to use emojis, why are there only smiling and laughing faces? Why no sad or crying ones? Do our lives only consist of joy and amusement?
The truth is that you can find plenty of homeless people clustered around Taipei Railway Station. Is that not a rather ironic contrast with the smiley emojis on the station floor?
There is some merit in the idea that land and objects should be used to the best effect, but it does not apply to each and every situation. If we use up everything we have, including every inch of space, it will actually make us feel oppressed. The sense of oppression cannot be seen, but it is still there.
Taipei’s living space is getting ever more crowded. The buildings that line the city streets keep getting taller and so tightly squeezed together that a feeling of claustrophobia starts to set in.
The notion of using land and objects to the best effect applies when things are undeveloped. In this age of overdevelopment, we should try to keep things plain and simple instead of striving for excess functions that are actually burdens.
It would be better to return the floor of Taipei Railway Station’s main hall to its original purpose as a space in a station, rather than trying to use it to the utmost, which actually means overusing it.
The floor actually looked better the way it used to be. It would be more attractive without the emojis.
If anything, it could do with a few seats for travelers to rest their weary limbs. If there are no seats, it is no problem if people sit on the floor instead. Adding the emojis is worse than useless.
The broad and open hall of a station can have a plain and simple floor. Its unadorned spaciousness is beautiful in itself.
Shen Tzu-chieh
Taoyuan
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