City Yeasts Movements Broadcast Overseas School Yeasts US Project

Hsuan-hui Tang - Simple beauty Environment, Professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

 

(photo taken on 2014/01/21)

 

Time:2014/1/21 11:00
 Venue:No. 42, Sec. 4, Keelung Road, Da-an District, Taipei City (NTUST e2 309)
 Experience:

PhD in architecture, University of Sydney (Design Computation and Cognitive Research Center), participated in the Balcony Project of City Yeast. (reference: City Yeast Website)

  1. In which way do you think your growth environment influence the work you are doing?

    2. In the past the design environment was not so good, and the reason I took designing as my major was that I deleted all other departments that I don’t like. Besides that, I was greatly influenced by Graduate Institute of Music at National Chiao Tung University. In early days, Taiwan inherited a lot of Chinese culture. I fortunately took courses of Four Books and Five Classics, which also influenced me.

  2. What do you like about Taiwan?

    3. Actually I don’t like Taiwan so much. If I could choose I will not stay at Taiwan, it’s only because of the fact that I grew up in here and that my families concerned about me.

  3. Which city is the best in your mind? And what does it take to be your favorite city?

    4. Sydney. It is the place where I studied my doctoral degree and where I grew up. It owns natural and modernized conditions.

  4. Have you been in any creativity-related activities?

    5. Actually being a designer myself, I rarely participate in any creative cultural activities. What I am interested in is how to integrate social topics into my design, like how to design something that resolves social issues. There is a website called OPEN-DO (http://www.open-do.org/) It is a very good foreign website which proposes some social issues and gets everybody into the discussion for solutions and practice of such solutions. For example, one can easily get lost in Taipei Train Station, I think we can combine creative colors or sound to make it easier for people to recognize the paths.

  5. If you have to choose something to represent Taiwan, what would it be?

    6. People. Taiwan has beautiful natural scenes too, but this treasure island is about to be flattened; we should cherish it.

  6. What kind of mission do you think a designer growing up in Taiwan should undertake?

    7. I think I should make it a better place, but not just such beauty in the outside. Take the countryside in Japan for example, there isn’t any special installation art, but it gives the beauty of simplicity of the countryside.

  7. Does City Yeast mean anything to you? Has it influenced you in any way?

    8. Actually City Yeast is actually about how to bring social concepts to the people. It has also cultivated a lot of people who pay their attention to relevant activities and opened up their mind.

  8. What do you think of viscous city and non-internationalization proposed by City Yeast?

    9. Viscous city is a very good idea, but it requires much time for implementing. Europe is good example; they give a strong consciousness of the collective. Globalization requires localization in the first place. We cannot imitate completely China and America. Instead we should only display the features of Taiwan. When we talk about Taiwan, many people will think of snacks, but I don’t think snacks should got so much credit. I think colored glaze and Pili Hand Puppet Shows are more of local features.

  9. What is the ideal Taipei in your mind?

    10. Less people, less houses. Otherwise it is just too messy!

  10. What does the balcony in your mind look like?
    11. .

    Actually I think balconies shouldn’t be just about miscellaneous matters and iron rods. In foreign countries, most balconies contains a garden. If reconstruction is successful, it can also improves the heart of the people. This is also the start point of city reconstruction.

  11. What role do you play in Balcony Project?

    12. I am the guide, I pass the plan to my students.

  12. What do you think is the dilemma facing Balcony Project?

    13. Probably the government? But I think this kind of thing should be done by us and have the government to lean over after the system has been established.

Feedback

In a cold winter day, the five of us interviewed Associate Professor Hsuan-hui Tang. After three interviews we have preliminary understanding about etiquette and procedures of interview. But without our teacher and team leader, we found ourselves a little bit nervous. After meeting Mr. Tang, all the tension has been melt by his warm smile, and the interview which seemed to be regularized became breezy. Different from the previous interviews, a 8 years-old child accompanied us throughout this interview. His acts often made us laugh and feel relaxed. In our interview with Mr. Tang and our previous experience, we found out that most designers and artists tend to not like Taiwan. If there were nothing stopping them, they might have left this island. Why’s that, because there is too much attention on political struggles and chores. The government should spend more time and money on such social issues as drugs and elders living alone, instead of on spending much money to make Taipei messier. As to New Taipei Special District which seems to be perfect, both river sides lack cleaning. The government only did some refreshing work on the surface and did not really solve the problem. In our interview with Mr. Tang, I found out that he could integrate things into art as well as helping people. He mentioned that we should not only make the city more beautiful. For example, we can use different colors or voices in Taipei Train Station where one can be easily get lost, to help people find their way. Such smart ideas really has impressed me.

(written by Hsi Chen)

(photo taken on 2014/01/21)