The reason is simple: if architects don't snap a quick souvenir shot they may wake up the next day and find their prized master-pieces bristling from top to bottom with a frenetic jumble of acrylic and neon signs proclaiming "The So-and-So Supermarket: Freshness Guaranteed," "Restaurant Row: Sample Our Gourmet Snack Bars," "Learn English Fast: Intensive Conversation Classes Starting Now" . . . topped off by "Home Piano Lessons: Guaranteed Fast Results" and "The Purple Fairy Fortune Teller," each one more arresting and aggressively conspicuous than the last.

The vast diversity, variety, extent, and number of Taipei's commercial signboards have made them one of the city's most prominent characteristics.

Faced with this dazzling spectacle--vaguely familiar from Chinatown back home--the camera-toting tourist snaps his shutter furiously. But the local resident can hardly help feeling some dismay over these brash and ill-mannered creatures that crawl across every available surface baring their fangs and brandishing their claws for attention.

The inundation of signs spoiling the city's looks is symptomatic of Taiwan's burgeoning prosperity.

The island's postwar economic takeoff and a boom in merchandising have produced more and more commercial signs in ever advancing styles and materials.

Shop banners like those snapping in the wind in the painting Ch'ing-ming shang-ho t'u (Flocking to the River at the Ch'ing-ming Festival) vanished long ago. The neatly lettered signboards with a simple name like "The Integrity General Store" that used to flank narrow village streets have become rustic antiques. Traditional wooden plaques are rarities, andeven the metal and plywood plaques that were once popular have withdrawn, weather-beaten, from the scene.

The signboards with glass light bulbs and sheet plastic of twenty years ago have almost all been replaced, mainly because of the difficulty of maintaining them, while acrylic signs, all the rage six or seven years ago, are fighting for attention on the streets of Taipei with running light boards and computer-controlled display boxes.

The signs may have changed in styles and materials, but the merchants' fixation on size remains a constant.

"Some clients even refuse to pay if their sign is smaller than the one next door!" says Mr. Wei, who owns a commercial sign company.

The signs themselves may be innocent, but this attitude of "big is beautiful" is the culprit that spoils the face of the city and shadows buildings from the sun. Even more regrettably, news reports of giant signs blocking window exits in fires or being blown down by typhoons and injuring pedestrians are not infrequent. Visual pollution is a secondary concern to that of safety.

"Overseas, signs are strictly regulated as to their size, elevation, and appearance," says Chang Shih-hao, an architect who lived in Europe for many years once. With strict regulations, thorough enforcement, and a generally shared aesthetic sense, the problem there scarcely exists.

Although regulations on commercial signs have been passed in the ROC as well, the scope of enforcement is limited mainly to those that block sidewalks or traffic, with other infractions largely ignored. The feeling of most merchants is: "If you want to tear down signs, then tear down everybody's. Otherwise, you'll hardly improve the looks of the city just by tearing down mine alone. . . ."

Legislation is currently pending before the Taipei City Council to charge the city's Department of Public Works with the regulation of commercial signs and advertising displays, and the department's Urban Development Office is drafting a proposal to designate several streets as models for beautification.

This is certainly a welcome development. Will the day ever come when Taipei's highrises can lift up their heads from the enthusiastic embrace of layers and layers of commercial signs, inhale a breath of none-too-clean city air, and sing a chorus from the current Chinese pop hit "My Future's Not a Dream"?

[Picture Caption]

Crawling across every available surface, baring fangs and brandishing cl aws, many signs give the impression of being over-wrought and under-refined.

The number and extent of Taipei's commercial signboards have made them one of the city's most prominent characteristics.

Creatively designed signs can enhance the city's appearance.

Signs may differ in styles and materials, but the fixation on size remains a constant.

Stone characters on the front of an old building have a firm and steady character that modern signs can hardly match.

With proper regulation, signs can be neat and unobtrusive.

The number and extent of Taipei's commercial signboards have made them one of the city's most prominent characteristics.

Creatively designed signs can enhance the city's appearance.

Creatively designed signs can enhance the city's appearance.

Signs may differ in styles and materials, but the fixation on size remains a constant.

With proper regulation, signs can be neat and unobtrusive.

Stone characters on the front of an old building have a firm and steady character that modern signs can hardly match.