When architect meets farmer's wife...
In December of last year, Ilan County Government formally launched its "Ilan Houses" project. It publicly called on people planning to build new houses to participate in various categories based on geographical conditions in Ilan County, such as at the foot of mountains, in wetlands, or in suburban areas. Over 10 applied, and of these, nine projects were chosen and paired off with publicly selected architects, who were asked to develop "Ilan Houses" displaying local character.
The Yu family's eldest son, who works for the county government, acted as go-between to get Mother Yu's plan considered for selection, and the architect she was paired with was Huang Sheng-yuan. Huang holds a master's degree in architecture from Yale University, and has practiced in the USA.
One is a traditional farmer's wife and mother, a lady with great agricultural expertise, the other a young architect with Western professional training-what kind of new house for the Yu family would result from their encounter?
Mother Yu had a number of requirements for the new house. Firstly, it had to have a big kitchen. Mother Yu says that with the three-meter-long row of kitchen units including sink, worktop and stove which are generally found in city apartments, "you don't have room to move," so you can't work properly. She also insisted on having space for a big wood-fired stove like in the old house. This has many uses: apart from being convenient for boiling water, stewing chickens and ducks, and making cakes and pastries at New Year, the family's waste paper and the twigs and leaves swept up from the back yard can all be used as fuel, saving money and helping protect the environment.
These are all very reasonable ideas, so without argument Huang Sheng-yuan designed a kitchen comprising a "dining area" and a "cooking area," with a combined size as large as two bedrooms. Furthermore, from the cooking area one can see the front gateway, because in rural areas often only the housewife is at home during the day, and she is usually at work in the kitchen. With this layout she can easily see if the postman comes or friends visit.
The kitchen in the new house also has a sink and work surface for preparing food, and space for all kinds of kitchen utensils and for pickles, preserves and condiments. Huang Sheng-yuan also specially designed a semi-outdoor area connected to the yard, for Mother Yu to prepare dried vegetables. While she washes and trims the vegetables, she can also chat with neighbors who drop in.
Mother Yu's second main requirement was that the new house must have a yard where her chickens, ducks and geese can run free. Apart from being slaughtered and eaten at annual festivals, these poultry lay eggs, "to give my grandchildren some extra nourishment." The fowl can also consume all the family's kitchen scraps, and "our leftovers won't go to waste." Not daring to slack, Huang Sheng-yuan designed several outdoor spaces all around the house for Mother Yu's use.
The wooden bathtub for the Yus'new house is ready and waiting.