City buildings stand silently decade after decade, collecting countless memories. But as they age these precious jewels often fall into neglect. How can we preserve their original appearance and beauty while giving them new life? This year brought the 12th edition of the Old Building New Life Awards (老屋新生大獎). After two selection rounds undertaken over a two-month period, and with a reorientation of past emphasis on the reworking of external appearance in favor of "Integrated Co-existence of Old Building and Residents," the Studio 94 project won gold. In this project, an architect and group of students transformed an abandoned residential building into an "old building amusement park."
Old Building Reborn as Amusement Park
Studio 94 is beside Yangde Boulevard (仰德大道) on Yangmingshan (陽明山). It was originally the residence of the chairman of the Thermos Foundation (財團法人玉溪有容教育基金會). Left empty for a long period, and lacking sunlight and ventilation, it was first intended to be used as a storage facility. Instead, it was transformed into the Interbreeding Field (建築繁殖場) for the Tainan National University of the Arts Graduate Institute of Architecture (國立臺南藝術大學建築藝術研究所), a large-scale practical architecture laboratory for the students. They lived in the old building for three months, observing the local natural environment, and at the same time interacting with area residents. After this another two years was spent on renovations, transforming the nearly 60-year-old residence into a theme park complimenting the surrounding landscape and blooming with greenery.
A stepped wooden terrace has been constructed on the roof of Studio 94, and trees have been planted to create a garden in the sky. Inside the building, a wooden desk stretches out from a wall cavity, breaking up the original framework. Moving through doorways into each space feels as though moving through a maze, engaging the old house in a whimsical game. The facility is now being used as a workshop, exhibition venue, and offices, and space is made available free to NGOs for activities.
Cultural Spaces Brimming with History
MadL2 (madL2文化空間) won silver at the Old Building New Life Awards. This old building, down an alley off Dihua Street, was built 80 years ago. Left unused for a five-year period, there were leaks, the electrical wiring was old, and the flooring and roof were damaged in many places. Nevertheless, the artists at the madL studio felt it would be a pity to leave the place to crumble, and moved to preserve the building structure and elements of traditional craftsmanship. The old house was put in order and furniture made. From the outside, this townhouse looks like any other, but inside sunlight spills through the windowpanes, and in every corner furniture of their own design and small decorative designer items fill the space with a pronounced artistic air. The front half of the building is currently being used as a performance space and studio for young artists, while the back part is a madL studio. It aims to serve as a new hub for cultural creativity in Dadaocheng in cooperation with the surrounding community.
The bronze winner, the designated Taipei City heritage site Beitou Museum (北投文物館), is an almost perfectly preserved two-floor wooden Japanese-style structure. Built in 1921, the building first housed Beitou's finest-quality hot-spring inn. At the end of the Japanese era (1895-1945), it was used as a place of relaxation and entertainment for kamikaze pilots. In 2002 the Fulu Culture Foundation (財團法人福祿文化基金會), which manages the site, hired a team of artisans skilled in traditional methods to conduct a thorough renovation, and even invited Japanese carpenters to engage in cooperation and communication. Renovation returned the building to its full Japanese-era glory. The museum has displays of cultural artifacts, stages cultural-arts performances, and rents tatami-floor and Western-style wood-floor spaces to the public for meetings, banquets, and other types of activities. You can also experience the tea ceremony, kaiseki cuisine, and other elements of traditional Japanese culture on a visit to this multicultural creative garden.
The Story of Life on Stage Here
In addition to the gold, silver, and bronze winners, due to the strength of this year's crop of contenders two special prizes were also awarded, to the "Lin Wuhu Numerology Hall" (林五湖命相館) and to Wake Coffee (微客棧), respectively. The first is a well-preserved example of Taiwan's traditional south Fujian-style architecture, built by a clan surnamed Lin in 1851. One of the oldest structures along Dihua Street, it was originally the clan's numerology or fortune-telling hall. The hall has been relocated, but ancestral tablets remain, and some members of the family's current generation reside here. The facility is open to the public each Saturday morning. Wake Coffee, which was also voted most popular in an online vote, is a building over 40 years old, transformed into a cafe by volunteers from the Waker Foundation (社團法人台灣微客公益行動協會). On the first floor, in addition to the dining space, there is a sales area with hand-crafted products made by disadvantaged women in India and Nepal. On the upstairs level are the foundation's offices and space that can be rented for the staging of cultural activities and other uses.
Old buildings are not just representatives of a city's past. They are spaces that can be reactivated for new use and new life – places that look toward to the future. Come explore the evolving cultural landscape to be found down along this city's streets and alleys.
Information
2013 Old Building New Life Awards 2013老屋新生大獎
Website:www.taipeiface.com
Studio 94
Add:94, Sec. 2, Yangde Blvd. (仰德大道2段94號)
Tel:(02)8771-7166, ext. 321
Website:www.garden91.org
madL2 文化空間
Add:4, Aly. 18, Ln. 46, Sec. 1, Dihua St.
(迪化街1段46巷18弄4號)
Website:www.facebook.com/madL.art
Beitou Museum 北投文物館
Add:32, Youya Rd. (幽雅路32號)
Tel:(02)2891-2318
Hours:Tues~Sun 10:00~17:30
Website:www.beitoumuseum.org.tw
Lin Wuhu Numerology Hall 林五湖命相館
Add:156, Sec. 1, Dihua St. (迪化街1段156號)
Tel:(02)2944-7716
Hours:Open for visit second and fourth Saturday each month,
10:00~12:00 and 14:00~16:00.
Wake Coffee 微客棧
Add:3-2, Ningbo E. Rd. (寧波東街3之2號)
Tel:(02)3322-5103
Hours:Tues~Sun 11:30~21:30 (closed Mon)
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