The Forestry Bureau provided funds to the Association of Humanitarian Architecture to build a number of wooden structures in remote communities of Hualien and Taitung, using locally produced timber, as well as adhering to the concepts of cooperation with local tribal communities and student participation in the creation of the works. A joint launching ceremony for the architectural creations was held at Bei-Nan Elementary School in Taitung County this morning (26th). The young baseball players from Bei-Nan Elementary School baseball team gave an energetic first pitch for a newly-constructed bullpen to open the ceremony, which also served as a symbol of hope for this vision of a better environment through using local materials and local actions.
The Forestry Bureau collaborated the Association of Humanitarian Architecture to bring together a team of professionals in the wood construction industry, including Yumu Manufacture and Research, Nafansi Studio, L.A. Lab, and MUGO International Corp., as well as humanitarian architecture teams from academia: Graduate Institute of Architecture of the National Chiao Tung University, Graduate Institute of Architecture of the Tainan National University of the Arts, Catholic St. Joseph Technical High School, Taipei Municipal Daan Vocational High School, and Taipei Municipal Nangang Vocational High School. Together they showcased the design of domestic-timber wooden structures and cooperative structures suitable for public participation in the Hualien and Taitung region. In addition, a number of humane architectural projects were completed this year, including a tree platform for Shin-Cheng Elementary School in Hualien, a wooden cube installation at the Etude Bookstore, a spatial renovation for 5 Way House in Shoufeng Township, a wooden bullpen and wooden bookcase for the baseball team of Bei-Nan Elementary School in Taitung, a landscape image design at the entrance of Chulu Junior High School, and a pavilion at the Palan archaeological site. In addition, through the development of a high school vocational woodworking curriculum, a number of collaborations have taken place, including the small archaeological benches made of domestic timber for the Shihsanhang Museum of Archeology in New Taipei City, the 2020 Taipei Landscape Public Art Project, and the Pacific Picnic Table Workshop Project of the Taitung County Cultural Affairs Department. It achieved rewarding results and also brought direct woodworking experience to the students.
Upholding the Spirit of Local Community Development and Creating Cultural Spaces with Domestic Timber
Lin Hwa-Ching, Director General of the Forestry Bureau, said that 2017 was declared the “Year of Domestically Produced Timber” by the Forestry Bureau. In the same year, the Bureau participated in the Taipei Building Show as the Domestically Produced Timber Taiwan Pavilion and held a forum on domestic timber, which led to meeting Professor Kung Shu-Chang of the Graduate Institute of Architecture of the National Chiao Tung University, who used natural materials to construct humane architecture and initiated a charity project to build a medical station in Nepal. Lin Hwa-Ching pointed out that the ideal of the Association of Humanitarian Architecture on using local materials and building structures that meet the needs of local residents is fully in line with the Forestry Bureau's philosophy of promoting “locally produced and locally used domestic timber”. Therefore, the Forestry Bureau joined hands with the Association of Humanitarian Architecture to support the development of unique local features with domestic timber to create wooden spaces that the local community residents and school children of Hualien and Taitung can resonate with.
The Association of Humanitarian Architecture has been collaborating with the Forestry Bureau since 2018. This year (2020), they have gone one step further to bring their past experience in academic cooperation to the professional wood construction teams in the industry, and apply the practical domestic timber experience to humanitarian architectural work in remote rural areas. They also adopted the “Taiwan Wood” label, which combines local materials and public cooperation, and used local Taiwania cypress and Japanese cedar timber in their design. It is hoped that humane architectural values can be created through the use of local materials to establish sustainable architecture, the cultivation of local handicrafts, the spirit of environmentally-friendly circulation, and the access to knowledge resources.
The Association of Humanitarian Architecture Helps Dreams Come True through the Efforts of the Public
In addition to the funding for domestic timber provided by the Forestry Bureau, the Association of Humanitarian Architecture would also like to give a special thanks to certain sectors in the community for their help: Landseed Culture and Education Foundation for their support all the way from the project in Nepal to Taiwan, as well as Jang Chang Lumber Industry Limited Company, Cheng Fung Timber Company, and Ming-Ji Timber Business Co. for providing high-quality domestic timber. The Association would also like to express their thanks to DHC Hardware Store for providing hardware parts, Jie Sheng Car and Motorcycle Rental in Taitung for providing vehicle rental services, as well as Easy Camp, Luminous Hot Spring Resort & Spa, Little Henry's Fast Food, and Fugang Gas Station Co. for their tireless support.
According to the Association, all the humane structures completed in this project were made of seemingly simple wooden components and built by hand in joint labor, and finally blossoming into the results we see around the different communities. Just like the promotion of the Taiwanese wood concept, it may seem simple, but it is not at all simple—it requires everyone's efforts for it to come to fruition. The Forestry Bureau would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our partners from all over the country and across all sectors. We look forward to continuing our joint support for Taiwan's domestic timber and realizing the spirit of sustainability by “producing local and using local.”
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