A series of activities honoring late architect Wang Da-hong (王大閎) are to be staged at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
The hall’s management said Wang, who designed the building, was one of the nation’s most important modernist architects.
Known as the “poetic architect,” Wang studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and Harvard University, where he was taught by German architect Walter Gropius, the hall said in a statement yesterday.
Wang in 1952 moved to Taiwan and established his architectural practice the following year, it said, adding that Wang, who died in 2018, completed about 60 projects in Taiwan, including the memorial hall, which is considered a classic example of the development of modern architecture in the nation.
The building was designated a historic site by the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs in May 2019 and has become an important cultural landmark, it added.
To commemorate Wang, the hall is partnering with several institutions, including the Society for Research and Preservation of Wang Da-hong’s Architecture, on a series of events, including an exhibition, walking tours, a concert and forum.
A commemorative exhibition, to open on May 15 and run until June 16, is to be held at the arts and cultural center at National Taipei University of Technology — the only Taiwanese university at which Wang taught, the hall said.
Seven walking tours are to be held from March 27 to May 23, it said, adding that places on the guided tours were quickly filled when they were announced last year.
The first tour is to begin at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, and be led by architectural historian Shyu Ming-song (徐明松) and Huang Wei-ting (黃瑋庭), a research assistant at the society, the hall said.
The building housing the university’s Chinese literature department is a rare example of Wang’s work in southern Taiwan, it added.
Other tours are scheduled to begin at National Taiwan University, Academia Sinica, National Taipei University of Technology and at the memorial hall.
Each tour is limited to 25 people to prevent any spread of COVID-19 and to ensure the quality of the experience, the hall said.
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