City Yeasts Movements Broadcast Overseas School Yeasts US Project

Agua Chou - Agua Design, City Yeast Source, Thought, Yeast

(picture taken from： City Yeast facebook page)

Time:2012/11/15 18:30~21:30
Venue:Agua Design Workshop (No. 6, Alley 4, Lane 199, Sec. 3, Bade Road, Songshan District, Taipei City)
Experience:

Attended Urban Voice Plan, project head of Taipei City Color, Organizer of the Taipei City Government Design Thinking Course, planner of Living Tomorrow, Organizer of the Tour of 100-Year –Old Dadaocheng, Lecturer at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Lecturer at Department of Landscape Design, Chinese Culture University, Consultant for Design Taipei, Organizer of Living Tomorrow, Taipei Forum, City Yeast Living Room–Treasure Hill Artists Village, planner of City Yeast Balcony, planner of the “Yellow Chair Project”, winner of the 2007 Gold Butterfly Award, winner of the Taipei Dream City, winner of the 2005 iF Award, winner of the CES Award, initiated the current City Yeast project in 2006, proposed the Plan Global in 2002.

  1. What do you like about Taipei?

    2. I like Taipei’s diversity and interesting phenomenons on the streets. As different stores and distinctive street furnishings can be seen everywhere, Taipei has been developing its own style since its establishment.

  2. What should be improved in Taipei?

    3. Taipei's diversity results in unable to coordinate with nature and lack of harmony. These stops improvement in colors(ex: unchanged color in drain covers). The city becomes dull. We should improve our citizens' aesthetics, contributing to make Taiwan better.

  3. How much time do you spend on City Yeast?

    4. City Yeast is a part of my life.

  4. How did City Yeast influence you?

    5. I turned from a critic to an advisor, experimentor and practicioner. I start to think about ways to improve Taipei, learn how to treat issues from different perspectives.

  5. Have you been affected by other cities?

    6. Garbage cleaning and recycling in France is simple and easy to understand. They use vacuums to clean up the garbage. The government does not limit people by setting rules on littering, it does the best to clean up garbage. Each city has its features, and Taipei should create some of its own.

  6. What do you think students can do for City Yeast?

    7. Open up the campus and let the community around it interact and connect with your school. Re-build the relationship between students and communities. Carry out discussions and then take action; we need strategic mobility and consideration for local needs.

  7. How do you know relevant people abroad?

    8. I know them through some international speeches and exhibits. Some of them contacted us first. They are from France, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Denmark, and Holland.

  8. Do you know any organization similar to City Yeast?

    9. Yes, like Droog, Tien Tien Circle, Very Fun Park, URS, but their goals are different.

  9. What do you know about "Viscous cities"?

    10. A viscous city possesses good qualities, attracting visitors repeatedly. A city with such virtuous cycle will grow continuously.

  10. Has City Yeast been limited at any social group?

    11. No. City Yeast seminars is open, free and not limited by age. We welcome anyone interested in participating.

  11. What is the biggest adversity for promoting City Yeast in Taipei?

    12. Lack of government support. Our development has been limited, making our creative ideas unable to be heard. There are many great things going on in Taipei, but people don't see them.

  12. Who do you expect to participate in City Yeast? And so far which social group has the most active participation?

    13. I wish City Yeast expands to involve more people, most of the current participants are students from designing departments.

  13. How do you think about the execution efficiency of City Yeast? And how do you think we can further improve such efficiency?

    14. There is room for improvement. Citizens aren't sensitive enough, we need citizens to rethink about our city's future.

  14. What do you think is the biggest trouble in executing City Yeast in cities?

    15. We need government support. Without their help, large activities can't be carried out, neither can we invite tendering. Besides, I hope the government can simplify application processes, not rejecting an application in excuses of “ affecting other people” which is simply our purpose. Lots of people sign up to our activities, but many of them did not participate afterwards, stopping activists from signing up where the limited number of people has been exceeded.

  15. What is the source of funding of City Yeast?

    16. Large corporations sponsor us.

  16. Taxis in Taiwan are yellow, but in other countries there are many colors. Do you think we should reserve or remove this feature?

    17. If taxis are in different colors, people may easily confuse them with private cars. Colors of Taipei can be divided into fixed colors and changable colors. Fixed colors include landmarks and chain stores, changeable colors should be those seen most frequently by Taipei citizens such as the color "yellow" of taxis. I think this is a very good feature.

  17. Every country has its unique representative, such as boutiques in Paris and Japanese Anime. What do you think should be Taiwan’s representative?

    18. Most people believe snacks represent Taiwan, but you don’t see a lot of Taiwan snacks abroad. I think what represent Taiwan are 3C products, even though they are harder to obtain abroad.

  18. What do you think is the biggest result of City Yeast?

    19. It creates value in terms of design, enlarging the ethic groups involved. Planning depend on ideas, institutions, systems, and strategies. Designers think from different perspectives for different demands. Designers study the methods and reach goals through communicating and coordinating. This cannot be done by an individual; it is achieved by mutual cooperation of a group of people with the same mind.

  19. How do you expect City Yeast to develop in the coming years?

    20. Continue on developing "color" and make Taipei a city of 200 colors instead of three primary colors. We will coordinate with manufacturers, develop and match colors for them to blend in harmony like the whitewashing and coloring of dormitories in National Chengchi University. We will emphasize "City Sounds" the next year.

  20. How do you expect City Yeast to change Taipei?

    21. I don’t expect any change. What I expect is to keep the city continuously motivated and to give creative people a stage to show and express their ideas. City Yeast has been cultivating, activating and connecting creative minds, which will create more possibilities if we were to do something.


Feedback

Living in Taipei, walking on the same streets, taking the same buses, we feel like our lives has been limited. Except during the city is vacant, we hardly notice the beauty of the city. Stepping into Agua Design studio, our perspective changed. “Taipei is UNIQUE”, Ms. Chou said. From her words, we felt her passion towards Taipei. We start to realize the beauty in Taipei, to love this city, and to truly want to improve. Small happinesses exist in corners of the city. Have you found them in your life? In our busy and plain urban life, we can take some time to observe and listen to the city we live in. Taipei can be better. In streets of Taipei, various signs as well as clothes and other objects on old balconies have made this city a bit messy, although many think this is how Taiwan should be. Local characteristics of Taiwan can be beautiful and artistic. If we work together and start from little things, Taipei can become more beautiful and attractive. After this interview, we see Taipei not just from the perspective of students, but also from the perspective of designers and artists. Meanwhile, we also hope that we can interact more with Taipei, making it more beautiful and pleasant .

(written by Hui-Yu Huang)