A church on Taitung’s Catholic Kungtung Technical Senior-High School campus is ranking No. 1 in the World Monument Fund’s (WMF) online voting for new architectural sites for preservation.
The 57-year-old church has 10,485 votes — 2,000 more than the runner up. Only after a formal announcement from the fund would the church be added to the fund’s preserved sites.
The fund searches for new architectural sites for preservation every year, choosing buildings that evoke discussion through their design or historical significance.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
This year 100 sites were selected, with Kungtung Church the only entry in Taiwan.
Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) congratulated the county and the Bethlehem Mission Society for the church’s selection.
“The win is something to be very happy about,” he said. “This is an honor for Taitung not only because of what it says about the architecture, but also the county’s history.”
The clergymen and other members of the church helped the county during times of hardship, Huang said.
Taitung County Council Speaker Rao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said she was greatly moved by the news of the fund’s recognition of the church, which was built 60 years ago by Swiss Catholic missionaries.
“This is an honor for both the county and the nation as a whole,” Rao said.
National Chiao Tung University archicture professor Chang Chi-i (張基義) said the architecture was heavily influenced by cubism.
The style pays close attention to shadows and lighting, Chang said, describing it as an avant-garde design.
Bethlehem Society Mission priest Ernst Gassner said the honor of the building’s recognition should be attributed to God and to the founder of the school, Hilber Jakob.
It does not matter which is the most beautiful as they are all simply “houses,” Gassner said.
“The house itself is not important because it is just a place for us to gather in,” he said. “There is no time or place where God cannot be found, we only need the church as a place to gather and speak His word.”
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