Taipei _ September 1–3

 
Sunday, September 1

I landed in Taipei, Taiwan in the late afternoon with eight of my classmates. We took the metro (MRT) to meet up with the rest of our classmates and got dinner at a local spot, where we tasted lots of different dishes. Afterwards, we wandered around the nearby Shilin Night Market where it was awesome to get a glimpse into some of the night market and food culture of Taiwan.

Monday, September 2

After eating breakfast at the hotel, our group took the MRT to the Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI), located in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. We received a tour of TDRI’s offices and learned about some of the projects they have undertaken, such as designing voting ballots and redesigning public facilities like schools and court rooms. TDRI really emphasized the “power of design,” and it was really interesting to think about how to quantify something that feels so intangible. Their passion concerning the ability of design to impact citizens was inspiring and prompted me to reflect on the kind of impact I would like to make through my own design work both now and in the future.

    We then stopped at Trash Kitchen, a workshop studio that focuses on upcycling waste material in innovative ways. After our tour, we had free time to get lunch in the surrounding area, and some friends and I stopped at 7/11 to get coffee and onigiri. We walked through Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, which had a large, restored pond with local and endemic species and lots of small shops and pop-up stores. The building used to be a cigarette factory during Japanese occupation, and due to the highly flammable nature of the materials in said building, it was required for there to be easily accessible water nearby, hence the pond. While it’s illegal to disrupt the wildlife now, workers used to grow plants and raise fish in the pond to then catch. As someone who is passionate about nature and the outdoors, I really loved learning more about the history of the area and witnessing the lushness of the flora and fauna, despite being in the heart of a city.

Following this, we took taxis to the National Palace Museum where we saw ceramic pottery, jade and ivory carvings, bronze vessels, Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and calligraphy. All of the objects were really beautiful, and I particularly enjoyed the pottery, jade, and Buddhist figures. Taking inspiration from one of Bruno Munari’s design philosophies, I often think about the role of design as imbuing art and beauty into everyday objects and interactions. I felt that many of these objects really embodied this concept, from animal-shaped wine vessels to painted tea sets and worship items. Following the museum, we went to Shih Chien University (SCU) to meet the students we will be working with for the first time. They were all really nice, and it was cool to compare how our experiences as design and design-adjacent majors both overlapped and differed, and I’m looking forward to continuing to get to know them better!

Tuesday, September 3

On Tuesday, we started the day by returning to SCU where we received a lecture from Shikai Tseng, a Taiwanese industrial designer. His talk was really interesting, and I particularly loved his project which combined photography and tangible vessels as an exploration of ways to imbue more value into physical objects like souvenirs. I really appreciated hearing more about his philosophies of design and life as well, such as “do the dumb thing” and to work with craftspeople by getting to know them, not just commissioning work from them. These two philosophies spoke to me in particular as I feel that they reflect values I’ve begun to develop for myself. For example, fearing “the dumb thing” restricts my creativity and ultimately limits myself, and conversely I frequently find breakthroughs, both in design and in other aspects of my life, when I decide to try the “crazy” or “stupid” idea, oftentimes just for fun. Additionally, as someone who practices many crafts myself, I’ve learned how understanding the process of creating something can often guide designing or making something in a more efficient, more cohesive, and even more beautiful way. However, when I look at the design world today, I sometimes fear that this connection between designer and craftsperson has become increasingly disconnected and devalued. Thus it was reassuring and reaffirming to hear that an established designer found value in investing in a relationship with and learning from craftspeople to inform his designs. 

After our lecture and lunch, we went to Taiyuan Rd with the SCU students to look at and buy various materials including but not limited to foams, plastics, fabrics, metals, and more. We then went to the nearby Dihua St in Dadaocheng near Taipei’s North Gate. I loved hearing about the history of the city and the gate, including how it and the city was built using crowdfunding and how the city’s people stopped four of the original five gates from being destroyed during Japanese occupation by protesting. Learning about the history of Taipei and Taiwan has been one of my favorite aspects of the trip so far, as so many of the places we visit have had such rich history that I never would have recognized on my own. I’m really looking forward to continuing to explore Taiwan!