Taiwan Night, Is Just Charming
Executive Editor: Catherine Chen

Our days are often bathed in bright sunlight in the sub-tropical Taiwan, where blinding sun shines onto oversized street blocks, and cover us with inescapable and suffocating heat. Only after darkness falls are we able to shuttle back and forth in the streets, and this is the time the uniquely Taiwanese Dark City culture begins: the bustling night markets, all types of chic and laid-back night clubs, the loud and thriving seafood stands... In the darkness, the Dark City is young, and just charming...

Curator of the Taiwan Exhibution the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th International Architecture Exhibition Chao-lee Kuo and co-curator Ke-feng Liou interpret the theme of this year, "Dark City," thusly: In appearance, it is a presentation of the cultural characteristics of the space of Dark Cities in Taiwan; however, the basis of its discourse is a deconstruction of the conceptual structure of the "Plan Voisin." To fully communicate such a deep level of thinking and the way to transform it into an exhibition space design, we are fortunate to have Director of the Urban Design Academy, Professor Kuan-Ting Wu in a dialogue with Professor Kuo, which presents full implications of the exhibition and covers topics from concepts in exhibition space design, design techniques, to curatorial discourse and critique of urban space.

With regard to exhibition space, the aim is to communicate the characteristic of spatial culture of Taiwan cities and architecture – shadows, In the process of viewing, allow the visitors to engage in a dialogue with the light and shadows, audio and visuals, and the space of the exhibition halls, to experience with their bodies the uniqueness of the Dark City in Taiwan. So, instead of the solo exhibition format, which had been used for previous shows in the Taiwan Exhibition, this year we have a collective project by six major architects from Taiwan: each architect plays a different role in spatial design and collaboratively construct the total effect of the show space. Victor Y.C. Su creates amusing three-dimensional spaces with intersecting lines and arcs. Jay W. Chiu employs a large glass wall that cuts through the entire hall to accommodate all the displayed installations, and, with visual and lighting design by Ke-hwa Lin, establishes the integrity of the space. Albert I-Li Ho puts up wood-framed mesh screens so that visitors see the light grey shadows of one another and the awareness of environmental issues for the Dark City is heightened. Kris Yao presents an audio-visual experience by intersecting and interweaving visitors' shadows and the projected scenes on screens, a metaphor for the undercurrent energy and the hidden affairs of the city at night. Kyle Chia-Kai Yang builds a touchable wall, expressing a feeling of a compressed, soft city. Shichieh Lu develops images from Chinese characters to represent the scattered sites in the Taiwanese urban landscape.

The works in the exhibition reflect the architects' viewpoints on the Dark City in Taiwan, while their creative styles can be traced from past works. So, we asked the architects to publish their theoretical discourse on the Dark City and provide design works on this theme. And we came up with six independent portfolios, wherein lies the complete essence of each architect: "Capture of the Uncapped Humanity"; "The Ignored Microspace"; "Grey City: A Scenario for Murkiness Signscape"; "Dark Affair"; "Paradox, and its Extension"; and "Signscape."

In addition, the cover for this issue of Dialogue, which is also the theme design for this exhibition, is created by our Artistic Director, Wenji Chiu, in collaboration with the curator. The halo of the Dark City and the brilliance of the city that never sleeps emerge from the primordial chaos. Together with the enormous calligraphy of the Chinese character for "night" by ancient calligrapher Ouyang Xun, the design intends to forcefully express the quintessence of the exhibition in an international context.

In the past several months, along with negotiations on direct flights between Taiwan and Mainland China came the discussions and debates on the issue of airports in Taiwan being out-of-date. In fact, Taiwan did have a chance to jump onto the international stage a few years ago. I still remember the NEW TAIWAN BY DESIGN International Competition – "GATEWAY SERIES — CKS International Airport, Terminal Redevelopment" of 2004. The outstanding design of Japanese architect Norihiko Dan was selected out of a large group of international contestants. And yet, what now? For our next issue we have invited Michael C. Y. Fei, a registered architect in New York City, as Guest Editor-in-Chief, who will be in charge of an extensive coverage on major airport cities in the world, so as to provide an example for our future development.