Former Handicraft Exhibition Hall
Former Handicraft Exhibition Hall is located in the Taiwan Craft Culture Park, in Caotun Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. Completed in 1976, this building is the most important arena that witnesses the shift from the handicraft industry to the craft culture. Planned and designed by the artist Yuyu Yang, this modernist architecture was designated as a monument by Nantou County government in 2022. Now part of the complex of the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute and renamed the Craft Exhibition Hall, it hosts periodical exhibitions related to the Taiwanese craft culture.[1]
History
From the 1960s to 70s, in the process of economic development, in order to tap into the pool of human resources in the rural area, the Governor of Taiwan Province Hsieh Tung-Min launched the so-called “Plan for Prosperity.” To realize then Premier Chiang Ching-Kuo’s expectation that all citizens should be productive contributors to the economy, Hsieh advocated turning living rooms into makeshift factories for handicraft production and promoted a hardworking and simple lifestyle[2]. Therefore, the handicraft industry consultation group under the Bureau of Development, Taiwan Province Government immediately started to set up a research institute, to assist producers in enhancing product quality and attracting the interest of the export market. The Taiwan Province Handicraft Research Center was thus formed in 1973[3].（Photo of “The Origin of the Taiwan Province Handicraft Research Center” tablet.）
In order to showcase new handicrafts from the domestic and abroad as well as allow producers to exchange and learn from each other, the construction of the Handicraft Exhibition Hall was planned and proposed[4]. The artist Yuyu Yang was enlisted as the main designer. Yang further invited two architects, Peng Yin-Hsuan (with I.M. Pei & Partners) and Cheng Yi-Hsien as collaborators. The construction of the Handicraft Exhibition Hall started in August 1974 and completed in April 1976. It was officially opened in June 1977 and became the only large exhibition hall for all crafts and open to the public in Taiwan at the time. The Handicraft Exhibition Hall displayed samples of domestic and international handicrafts with the purpose of advancing industrial development, promoting innovation as well as serving as a touristic attraction. For years, it was a famous landmark in Nantou[1][3](p9).
The Handicraft Exhibition Hall witnesses the rise, growth and transformation of Taiwanese handicraft industry in the past half century. Its role as the essential arena for research and development of the handicraft industry and for exchanges of craft techniques attests to its historic values. This modernist architecture of the 1970s that was the only national exhibition hall for handicrafts at that time further demonstrates its uniqueness. The fact that the building designed by the artist Yuyu Yang is located on the Chelungpu Fault and remains intact even after the 1999 Jiji Earthquake further speaks to its aesthetic and scientific values. It was officially designated as a Nantou County monument on 9 February 2022.[1]
Architecture
External
With the symbolic form of double crosses, the criss-cross of four pillars and horizontal walls represents the typical intersection of warp and weft commonly found in crafts. The building mass expands upwards from the narrow bottom; consecutive horizontal window stripes layer up with outer walls. The four giant tubular pillars (also serving as service cores) working with slabs of gridwork beams create large-span spaces without visual obstruction inside this white concrete and steel building. An epitome of modernist architectures[1].
Internal
The inside is a four-level integral exhibition space surrounding a central well. Natural light sheds in from the skylight and windows at every level. A central spiral staircase connects every level and moves audiences from the ground upwards. As perspectives constantly change with movements, the Hall leaves audiences with multiple layers of impressions[5](p402).
Landscape
The building and its environs including the sprawling lawn, flame trees and Saga trees create a vibrant contrast and form an important visual impression of the landscape. The Hall is a principal landmark of Caotun Township, Nantou County[1].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "原手工業品陳列館－國家文化資產網". 2022-11-03. Archived from the original on 2022-11-03. Retrieved 2022-11-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "家庭代工". 臺灣女人. 國立臺灣歷史博物館. 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2022-11-09. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 翁徐得 (1998). 臺灣省手工業研究所所志. 臺灣省手工業研究所. Search this book on
- ↑ "楊英風藝術教育基金會". yuyuyang.com.tw. Archived from the original on 2022-11-04. Retrieved 2022-11-04. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 蕭瓊瑞 (2007). 楊英風全集第６卷〈南投草屯台灣省手工業研究所新建工程規畫案〉. 藝術家出版社. ISBN 9789867034588. Search this book on
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