Architecture Masters, a podcast from the London Festival of Architecture (LFA) about the people who shape cities worldwide, will feature a conversation with Taiwanese master architect Huang Sheng-yuan (黃聲遠) from Aug. 14, with Deputy Director Owen Wainhouse of the LFA as the program host.
In the podcast, the founder of Fieldoffice Architects (田中央聯合建築師事務所) sheds light on the experience he had when he was a student at Yale University and later an architect at Los Angeles-based Eric Owen Moss Architects.
The Taipei-born architect also shares with listeners his community driven projects, how COVID-19 has impacted his practice in Taiwan, and his affection for Yilan, a rural town in northeastern Taiwan where his office is based.
In addition to public projects such as Yilan Museum of Art (宜蘭美術館), Wulaokeng Stone Weir (武荖坑石滬), and Jimmy Plaza (幾米廣場), the renowned architect also created the new home for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, the first contemporary dance company in Mandarin-speaking community.
It took six years to complete the Tamsui-based Cloud Gate Theatre, which integrates historical sites and natural surroundings to create a cultural venue that manifests the spirit of the prominent troupe.
Over the past decades, the Taipei-born architect has gradually transformed Yilan by making architecture into a vibrant, organic facility that merges users with their surrounding environment. Huang and his firm also designed the Taiwan Pavilion for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Kicking off on June 1, the London Festival of Architecture, the world’s largest annual architecture festival, has been moved online this year because of the coronavirus. The digital festival includes a program showcasing Taiwanese architects' unique approach to the restoration and revival of historic sites and community spaces across the nation.
Titled "Empowered by Restoration/Renovation: The Taiwan Experience," the program features three videos that introduce projects recognized by Taiwan's ADA Awards for Emerging Architects, the revival of old public space in Kaohsiung, and the transformation of Taipei-based Xinfu traditional food market (新富市場), respectively.
"Empowered by Restoration/Renovation: The Taiwan Experience"
Date: Aug. 25 – Sept. 20, 2020
Site: https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/the-taiwan-experience/