Looking Behind the Trends

This translation is a condensation of an interview with Han Paote, Director of the Office of Development at the National Museum of Natural Science:

I would classify early-period buildings constructed here in traditional Chinese styles but with modern materials and techniques, and their successors, as "compromistic" architecture. So-called "comprimistic" architecture is a style that arose in the West during the latter part of the 19th century when various traditional post-Renaissance styles were adopted to suit new materials (steel and concrete) and new functions (train stations, hospitals, etc.). Chinese compromistic architecture is perhaps not so much a case of simply following a fad as of a similarity in circumstances.

True "modern" architecture, once it had fully matured in the 20th century, changed the face of the city around the world. Modern architecture represented a complete break with the decorative, commemorative architecture of the past and a thorough-going reform in the name of reason, balance, and practicality. Spiritually, it sought a new aesthetics, encouraging modern man to cast off nostalgia for the past and bravely face the future. Traditional architects were rejected by the mainstream as reactionary and backward-looking.

These concepts began to change in the late 1960's, and the reasons were not architectural but cultural. Excessive industrialization, urbanization, and mechanization, together with pollution, alienation, and social unrest made people reflect on the drawbacks of modernism and question whether it was really suited to mankind's needs. Despite economic development, the quality of life had apparently declined. The painful lessons of the Vietnam War caused people to doubt the strength of a country made powerful by modernization. Confidence was further eroded by the energy crisis of the 1970's. In the wake of their disappointment with modem materialism, people faced a spiritual void.

At this point, the conservative forces of naturalism and humanism began to appear along with the whole concept of conservationism, both of the environment and of cultural and historic sites. It was no longer fashionable to tear down old buildings to put up new ones. Even early twentieth-century buildings were some times included in the ranks of the protected. But new buildings had still to be built. What gradually began to take shape was "postmodern" architecture.

If the symbol of modern civilization is mechanization, then postmodern civilization is the age of electronics and information. Postmodernism seeks to replace the products of the machine age, which dominate man, with technology that serves man and is closer to him. The automobile, for instance, which had gotten out of control, is being tamed by electronic traffic systems. Another example is the development from movies through television to videotape players, cable TV, and community television, with the vast array of choices they offer us.

Architecturally speaking, huge buildings are less and less well received in the postmodern era. People now prefer lower, cozier structures that provide a feeling of neighborhood. Formally, postmodern architecture considers the revival of traditional images, such as the arch, previously rejected as unsuited to modern building materials and modern architectural aesthetics.

Modern aesthetics held that only a clean, smooth surface was beautiful. But having looked at cleanliness and smoothness for so long, people found that they were not necessarily beautiful and that they couldn't fill a certain spiritual emptiness. It was then that people began to cherish traditional arches and moldings, which were previously considered purely decorative and nonfunctional. Rationalism no longer ran everything; the value of the human was reaffirmed.

Architecture here in this country has currently developed to this stage. The important point is, at a time when the world is seeking for local color and a restoration of the past, do we really understand what "Chinese style" is?

Broadly speaking, style is a special characteristic, a natural product of a people's needs, both rational and emotional, in their daily lives. Narrowly speaking, it denotes certain forms, appearances, and tastes that a people demand and have a purely emotional expectation for. People generally adopt the narrow interpretation, but I believe the broader one is more reasonable architecturally. Otherwise, it's too easy to fall into empty formalism.

Besides this, we especially must not overlook the "spirit of the times." Every age should have its own particular content, and only a work that expresses this content outwardly in form is truly representative of the age.

Based on this, I believe that architects, in adopting traditional methods and vocabularies, must carefully consider both function and contemporaneity. It's not necessary to put a Chinese coat on a factory or office building. We must not be overly fascinated with traditional forms. The loss of rationality ends in the morass of sentimentalism.

Residential buildings may possess a traditional flavor to an appropriate degree. But I think the best way to give a Chinese flavor to a house without sacrificing modern efficiency is through interior decoration and design. Public buildings of a cultural nature may possess more of an ethnic Chinese style in their form and construction.

As to which of the traditional methods and vocabularies can be used in modern architecture, I believe that anything that can be applied without adversely affecting a building's function may be adopted.

[Picture Caption]

An example of modern architecture: Chung-yuan Christian University's Hydraulic Engineering Building. (Photo by Huang Chin-lung.)

This high-rise clearly shows the influence of postmodern architecture. (Photo by Huang Chin-lung.)

This high-rise clearly shows the influence of postmodern architecture. （Photo by Huang Chin-lung.）