Our interview with Wang Chiu-hwa took place at her residence, in a seven-story elevator building designed by herself and completed in 1984. The location is at her father’s old home. In commemoration, she named it “Xue Hall” after her father’s “style name,” Xueting. 

Wang Chiu-hwa (center) as a graduate student at Columbia University. (courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

A noble figure settles in Taiwan

We had already heard much about Wang’s achievements. Now 96, she has led a life in three countries: China gave birth to her and is also the cradle of her cultural spirit; the United States is where she received her professional training, became steeped in the mores of modernism, and first gained recognition for her talent; and Taiwan is where she ended up, spending most of her hardworking and accomplished career.

To say that Wang comes from a renowned family is no exaggeration. Her father, Wang Shijie, was one of the first Chinese people to study law in Europe and was the founding president of Wuhan University. During the Republican era on the mainland, he served in several high-ranking government positions, including as minister of foreign affairs, minister of education, and president of the Academia Sinica. Wang Chiu-hwa’s fate became tied up with Taiwan when her father decamped to the island with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949.

Wang’s mother, Xiao Dehua, meanwhile, was a painter, whose brother Youmei was regarded as “the father of music education in modern China.” And one of Wang’s cousins on that side, the renowned painter Xiao Qin, was an earlier recipient of the National Award for Arts.

Although Wang did indeed come from an illustrious family, those who know her, including architects who have worked closely with her, agree that she is not at all proud. On the contrary, she is modest and gracious, held in high regard for her unselfishness and openmindedness.

That character is vividly apparent in her work. Take, for instance, Xue Hall: When we come for “Ms. Wang’s Movie Club,” put on by Wang’s fellow architects once a month, we discover that, like the building’s simple exterior, no luxurious or showy materials, decorations or furnishings are to be found inside. Upon entering, one’s eyes are drawn to an impressive grand piano. To its right is a spacious living room which is connected to a dining room with a big round Chinese-style table. The simple use of wood is the main decorating theme. The numerous windows and balconies around the residence create a chic effect. In addition to the lush plants, the garden also features a fish pool. The space offers cool breezes and stunning changes of light and shadow. The sense of intimacy with nature makes people feel that they have come to a hidden refuge within the busy city. 

Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Detroit. Although Wang is not religious, Percival Goodman was Jewish, and together they designed many synagogues in the United States. (courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

Making her mark in America

Wang is most often mentioned for being a woman architect. When she was born, in 1925, not many Chinese people could read, and fewer still had any inkling of women’s rights. She was extremely fortunate to receive the support of her family to pursue a university education.

She studied architectural engineering at National Central University in Chongqing (entering with the highest scores in her class) before moving to America to continue her studies. There, it was her good fortune to experi­ence the rising tide of modernism and to meet the architect Percival Goodman, who would take her under his wing.

She began to work in Goodman’s office when she was a graduate student in architecture and urban design at Columbia. That was the start of 32 years of collaboration. Goodman was not only an architect and educator but also a theorist and artist at the forefront of the field. Enlightened in his attitudes, he saw talent in Wang—never mind that she was Chinese—and eventually elevated her to the role of his business partner.

Making ample use of triangles, this design for the Barnert Temple in Paterson, New Jersey is an exemplar of modernism. (courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

Top Chinese woman architect

Even by international standards, Wang’s career is extraordinary. Up to the present, only a few ethnic Chinese architects such as I. M. Pei and Maya Lin have been able to make a name for themselves in the West. That she is a woman makes her success all the more impressive.

In 1979, Wang abandoned her life in America and came to Taiwan to take care of her ageing parents. Although she had previously had little connection to Taiwan, she quickly put down roots here. She taught, first at the Provincial Taipei Institute of Technology (now National Taipei University of Technology) and then later at Tamkang University and other institutions. As well as cultivating talented students as an educator, in 1984 she established her own firm and began a long period of collaboration with the architect Joshua J. Pan, creating many outstanding works for Taiwan.

Apart from Wang’s impressive architectural accomplishments, her career alone provided encouragement to the many women who followed her in the field. For instance, when Chiang Le-ching opened her own firm, she saw Wang as an inspiring example. “The achievements of those female predecessors showed us that we needn’t be afraid of pursuing our favorite styles and expressing delicate and beautiful visions in our work.” Roan Ching-yueh, meanwhile, notes Wang’s importance in taking the torch from Xiu Zelan, a woman who was part of the first genera­tion of architects coming to the forefront after World War II. In Roan’s reckoning, “Wang truly shouldered the responsibilities that came with being a woman architect in Taiwan during her era.”

The Center for American Studies (now the Institute of European and American Studies) at the Academia Sinica was Wang’s first commission in Taiwan. She is particularly proud of its design. Employing double-layer roofs and exhaust fans to keep its interior cool and well ventilated, the building is a forerunner of the “green architecture” in vogue today. (courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

The social responsibility of architects

But perhaps her pathbreaking accomplishments as a woman in the field are so legendary that insufficient attention has been paid to her actual work.

In particular, Wang is skilled at incorporating her under­standing of user needs into her architectural designs, paying attention to openness to natural light and airflows as well as to how the building interacts with its environment. Apart from demonstrating uniquely feminine characteristics, her works evoke even more the spirit of what is known today as “green architecture.”

“An architect’s duty is not just designing and overseeing the construction of a building,” Wang says. “Improving the built environment and engendering people’s understanding of and love for the environment are even more important.”

She adheres to the modernist creed of “form following function,” with a notable absence of stylistic flourishes and conventional ornamentation. Her buildings exude both magnanimity and elegance, with interiors in synch with the rhythms of life. Even today, decades after their construction, many remain exemplars of that modernist ethos.

Wang is most famous for her contributions to many of Taiwan’s largest libraries. Most of her works are public buildings, and only a few are private residences. A passionate reader in her private life, she has a particular affinity for library design. Apart from being responsible for the interior and furniture of the National Central Library, she also designed Chung Yuan Christian University’s Chang Ching Yu Memorial Library, which opened in 1985 and was the first library in Taiwan to employ open stacks. Its success prompted other libraries on the island to follow suit, thus shaping the evolution of Taiwan’s libraries and earning Wang the moniker “the mother of libraries.”

It was to the great fortune of Taiwan’s architectural development that Wang decided to settle down here in her middle age. But because she neither became too deeply involved in local architectural movements nor (out of personal preference) participated in the design of landmark-type buildings, she has never had the recogni­tion and influence enjoyed by other first-­generation postwar architects such as Wang Dahong and Chen Chi-kwan. Yet, indifferent to fame and fortune, she has achieved what she set out to do.

Now at an advanced age, Wang has designed few buildings in recent years, but her existing oeuvre continues to remind later generations that the mission of an architect is not to exalt the self but rather to demonstrate both care for the greater environment and responsibility toward society. Today, during the pandemic, a period rife with imbalances among people and between humanity and the natural environment, the examples that her works provide are especially valuable.

(courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

Wang has worked mostly on public buildings. Many of the houses of worship, schools, and community centers she designed while in the United States still stand today. The photo shows the Hubert H. Humphrey School in New York. (courtesy of Wang Chiu-hwa)

At 91, in a demonstration of her dedication, Wang insisted on going to Chung Yuan Christian University to oversee renovations of the library. (courtesy of Yang Zhiqian)

Wang’s Chang Ching Yu Memorial Library at Chung Yuan Christian University was the first library in Taiwan to employ open stacks. The desks and chairs in the reading areas are also her designs.

At the end of this corridor in Xue Hall, there is an elevated ceiling with a skylight. It both lets in natural light and—thanks to an exhaust fan—keeps the air in the residence circulating.

For years now, Wang’s large living room at Xue Hall has been a gathering spot for friends and relatives. After Wang won the National Award for Arts, Taiwan’s Public Television Service made a documentary about her. In this photo the director and other architects have come to watch a screening. (courtesy of Chen Shaoping)

There are many details in Xue Hall that are hallmarks of Wang’s design ethos: simplicity, generosity, and closeness to nature. Everywhere one can see elements that demonstrate her cultural depth.

Living a simple and understated life, Wang has left good examples to follow, whether in the buildings she has designed or in the way she has interacted with other people.