The “solar terms” are divisions of the year into 24 periods of about 15 days each, each with its own special “spirit.” The expression for “solar term” in Chinese is literally “spirit of the season.” Most Taiwanese people’s first impression of the solar terms comes from farmers’ almanacs, a must-have in every household, or from the tradition of consuming tonics during “Start of Winter,” the first of the six winter solar terms. As for buildings associated with the solar terms, a particularly impressive example is the Temple of Heaven in Bei­jing. Its layout represents the ancient Chinese concept of “round Heaven and flat Earth,” and the 24 middle and outer pillars symbolize the 24 terms. Another example is the “door gods of the 24 solar terms” painted on the four doors of the Hall of Literacy in Chao­tian Temple in Bei­gang, Yun­lin County, by the late artist Chen ­Shouyi from Tainan.

In such a living space, surrounded by verdure, mind and body can relax and connect with nature.

Solar terms architecture

In 2009, the “Solar Terms Architecture Task Force” was formed in central Taiwan by ­Chiang Wen­-yuan, Allen Hoo—both veteran practicing architects—and Lee Shwu­ting, then dean of the Department of Architecture at Feng Chia University. “Solar Terms Architecture,” as proposed by the task force, is not simply architecture based on the 24 solar terms, climate and surroundings, but rather architecture in a broader sense that incorporates every aspect of our lives. The task force aims to rediscover the Chinese philosophy of and attitude toward architecture, building “abodes for the soul” that touch people’s hearts.

Jieqi, Yijing, Wholeness: 5-Dimensional Architecture, a book published several months ago, took the Solar Terms Architecture Task Force six years to finish and is the preliminary result of its work. ­Chiang Wen-yuan describes a building as a container for people’s lives, a living organism tightly integrated into its surroundings, a site of daily life tightly connected to nature, and a place where people can relax.

Chiang takes inspiration from the traditional solar terms and from old villages. Take Taiwan’s old courtyard residences, for example. In the past, when there was no electricity or air-conditioning, courtyard houses were cool in summer and warm in winter, because they were built facing south, to greet the southerly seasonal breezes of summer and ward off the cold northerlies of winter. The buildings represent a dialogue between people and nature.

The central courtyard may seem useless but in fact has many purposes, serving as a place where grain is dried, people work, children play, adults mingle, and weddings, funerals and other ceremonies are held. The courtyard is called the “heart of Heaven,” a hub for sky and earth and man and god, an interface where humankind and nature meet.

Chiang Wen-yuan is very moved to see a landscape of terraced fields and traditional masonry irrigation ditches, rarely seen in Northern Taiwan, preserved in Ba­yan Village in New Tai­pei City’s Jin­shan District. Moreover, people living in old towns like Jiu­fen or Jin­gua­shi in New Tai­pei City and Zhu­shan in Nantou County have gradually become more aware of so-called “solar terms architecture.”

Lee Shwuting takes time out to commune with nature.

Abodes for the soul

In both old towns and courtyard homes, we can find commonly used but overlooked “corners” where the energy flows of people and places congregate. ­Chiang cites the Je Shui Pavilion located in Zhu­bei City in northwestern Taiwan as an example. The pavilion’s outer wall is long, but there is only one small gate 120 centimeters wide. When you visit the pavilion, the first thing you see is the sign of the pavilion in the shade of the trees outside the gate, which welcomes visitors and bids them farewell. As you walk in, what you see next is an Earth God temple with a temple square. The layout resonates with the land-based culture and ethics of a traditional agrarian society.

Take a turn and you will see a huge rock, making you feel as though you have entered a mountain village. Then you see a garden, not of ornamental plants but rather of edible plants such as sweet potato, Chinese angelica and papaya. There are also chickens scratching and pecking around. Stroll across a small bridge and you will hear the burbling sound of a brook, which filters out the noise of the bustling traffic outside. After you cross the bridge, you’ll see a traditional cooking stove of a kind now rarely seen in cities. This is the favorite “corner” of the employees at the pavilion, who lunch here on a daily basis. Every day, you can see people feeding the chickens as they eat.

A serene temple situated in a bustling city, the Bodhisattva Temple in Dali District, Tai­chung, was designed by Chiang Wen-yuan. When just built, the fair-faced concrete walls of the temple were austere. However, over time they have been embellished with greenery, and are now covered most of the year, being only bare in winter. Time has inscribed an ecological succession on the walls and adorns the temple in various styles in different seasons.

To ­Chiang, Western architecture is like a static music that emphasizes form, visual effect and balanced proportions; while Eastern architecture is a fluid music that does not focus on outward appearance. He associates the Bodhisattva Temple, a task-force creation, with a traditional Chinese poem that goes: “Deep, deep, how deep the courtyards are.” A perfect example of solar terms architecture, the temple is a place for people “to heighten awareness and visit space in time,” and have a holistic, “five-­dimensional” experience in which sensation and location merge, as they were supposed to do in traditional Chinese poetry.

Chiang Wen-yuan and Allen Hoo founded the architectural firm ­Banmu Tang Environmental Integration and came up with the idea of “solar terms architecture” based on years of experience as practicing architects. They envision an architecture that not only meets people’s needs for basic lodging and leisure but also integrates with nature, effecting what ancient Chinese philosophers called “peaceful coexistence and unity of heaven and humanity.”

Lee Shwu­ting also confides that the core value of “solar terms architecture” is the Tao or Way mentioned in a passage in Laozi’s Tao Te Ching that goes: “Man follows Earth. Earth follows the Universe. The Universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself.” In other words, the Tao of “solar terms architecture” is based on humanity and the universe. Inspired by this core value, forgiving, adaptable “abodes for the soul” have been built in the hopes of bringing about the peaceful coexistence of heaven and humanity.

Chiang Wen-yuan focuses on old villages and the traditional solar terms, creating a holistic connected ambiance.

Symbiosis with nature

Frank Lloyd Wright believed that the architect who studies life and understands life will achieve the greatest success.

The goal of “solar terms architecture” is to rediscover the symbiosis between humankind, architecture and nature that characterizes old settlements and courtyard houses, so that people who have lost touch with the seasons with the advent of electricity and air-conditioning, people who no longer follow the “solar terms” tradition, people whose mental and physical health suffers environmental repercussions, can recover by reforming relationships that have been broken off, relationships captured in the old saying: “respect heaven and humanity, listen to your surroundings.”

The slogan of the Je Shan (“like a mountain”) series of buildings built by ­Banmu Tang in Zhu­bei is “Let’s bring back water and trees! Let’s invite bulbuls, dragonflies and fireflies back home!” ­Banmu Tang is proud to hear from the residents of the buildings that they often see fireflies, Chinese tree toads and light-vented bulbuls around their buildings. As the residents are guided by “solar terms architecture” to follow the solar terms, learn local customs and agrarian traditions, and create collective memories by celebrating festivals with their neighbors, a contemporary “solar terms lifestyle” has taken shape.

Lee Shwu­ting, Chiang Wen-yuan, Allen Hoo and other members of the Solar Terms Architecture Task Force are convinced that they are not alone in their pursuit of the Tao. In addition to Taiwan’s local solar terms architecture, which has established sites of subjectivity that grow out of the local soil, distinctive architectures that celebrate the spirit of each season of the year can be found all over the world. Let’s join hands and welcome new natural and “spiritual” vistas on our contemporary civilization!

Chiang Wen-yuan describes a building as a container for people’s lives, a living organism tightly integrated into its surroundings, a site of daily life tightly connected to nature, and a place where people can relax.

The indoor space and the outdoor aromatic garden at the Je Shui Pavilion echo and complement each other.

People can admire the traditional customs, the scenery and the cultural life of Zhubei at the Je Shan buildings, constructed in harmony with the cycle of the solar terms. (courtesy of Banmu Tang)

The Bodhisattva Temple in Dali, Taichung is a peaceful oasis in the hustle and bustle of the city, a place where the alternations of nature arouse different sensations with the changes of the seasons.

The Bodhisattva Temple in Dali, Taichung is a peaceful oasis in the hustle and bustle of the city, a place where the alternations of nature arouse different sensations with the changes of the seasons.