For Taiwan’s seventh year at the Venice Biennale, the Taiwanese team will present Architect/Geographer – Le Foyer de Taiwan. The exhibition will embody the main theme of the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale which is “Common Ground”. The aspects of Taiwanese culture and architecture will be presented through the perspective of a geographer as mapping that can uncover a new understanding of Taiwan through international eyes. The team is supervised by the Ministry of Culture, organized by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, and curated by Ke-Fung Liou. The exhibit will be displayed at Palazzo delle Prigioni.
Follow us after the break for more on the exhibit.
Architect / Geographer – Le Foyer de Taiwan is an architectural landscape that projects the culture and geography of Taiwan. The exhibit explores Taiwanese architecture as it has been inspired through local cultures and local geological conditions, as opposed to looking at western ideals of architectural aesthetics.
The focus will be on the spatial dialogue between two sub-projects: The Foyer of Taiwan by Wei-Li Liao and Le Foyer Perdu by Yu-Han Michael Lin. Construction engineering specialist Ming-Pin Liao is responsible for creating physical manifestation of Liao’s and Lin’s architectural designs, using corrugated board to create a unique exhibit space that showcases the interplay between bodily experience and visual experience.
Architect/Geographer is built entirely out of corrugated board. It is divided into two levels, separated at 150cm, an approximate height at eye-level. The lower level will exhibit Yu-Han Michael Lin’s zone: a re-creation of a typical middle class apartment in Taiwan. The upper level will exhibit Wei-Li Liao’s zone: a display of Taiwan’s ecological and geographical features. The two will emphasize the relationship of architecture with the surrounding natural environment.
The Collateral Event Architect / Geographer – Le Foyer de Taiwan will be opened on 26th August 2012 and runs until 25th November 2012. For more information, please visit ww.ntmofa.gov.tw.
Architects: Wei-Li Liao, Yu-Han Michael Lin, Ming-Bin Liao Venue: Palazzo delle Prigioni, Castello 4209, San Marco, 30122 Venice, Italy Curator: Ke-Fung Liou Superviser: The Ministry of Culture Organizer: The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Photography: The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
Exhibition Period Inauguration date: 26 August 2012, 6:30 p.m. Preview: 27~28 August 2012, 10 a.m. ~ 7 p.m.; 29 August ~ 25 November 2012, 10a.m. ~ 6 p.m. (Monday Closed)