Design Practice of Kenzō Tange at Taipei Univ. of The Sacred Heart Project

• Main Authors: Chun-Wei Chang, 張峻瑋
• Other Authors: Chang-Chih Hsu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8zqr2f

碩士 === 中原大學 === 建築研究所 === 107 === This article uses the construction project of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University as a case study. The school was founded by the Catholic Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart as part of an effort to repair the education system in Taiwan before relocating to the island. In 1964, Kenzō Tange, a Japanese architect, was invited to design the school campus while a Taiwanese team from Hemu Architects helped create the basic shop drawings. There were initially four construction phases. However, upon the completion of the first phase in 1967, the withdrawal of the Republic of China from the United Nations and the changes in the National Government’s economic policy led to the closure of the university in 1972. As a result, only one of the four construction phases was completed. Nonetheless, the vision of the shop drawings, the subsequent use of the structure, as well as its expansion and redevelopment process allow us to infer the creative context that embodies both a theoretical background and historical implications. The objectives of this research are to first examine the beginning and end of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University, and then to explore the way through which Kenzō Tange expressed his thought process. This research referenced historical materials including the design drawings from the National Taiwan Museum, photographs provided by Sacred Heart High School for Girls, and public speeches given by Kenzō Tange. In addition to conducting interviews with people who have spent time on the campus during different periods of time, the research also made cross comparisons between the historical events and the thought process of Kenzō Tange so as to clarify and fill up the gaps in existing literature. This research has three major findings. First, the construction of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University was a re-evaluation of the overall planning of the Sacred Heart campus. After the second ecumenical council in 1965, different types of campuses experimented with new attempts and challenges in their limited space. Being the last piece of the puzzle in a comprehensive education system, the campus development of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University was Kenzō Tange’s attempt to overcome the shortcomings of the campus by making use of the geographic limitations and design theories. The development project was the very last step before the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart continued its education mission in Taiwan. Second, the creative context in which Kenzō Tange designed the Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University campus was on par with the social development in Japan at the time. Based on his studies in traditional architecture in Japan and the theoretical foundation developed during the period of post-war urban rejuvenation, Tange leveraged his experiences doing observations in different regions to finetune the construction project of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University based on the local geographic conditions, thus creating the signature architecture in Taiwan. Third, the founding of the school in Taiwan by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart reflected the social needs in Taiwan at the time. Taiwan experienced a division of history due to several instances of colonization. The National Government relocated to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War. This was not only a watershed moment that brought about a large number of Chinese architecture’s schools of thought to Taiwan, but also preceded the first wave of post-war modern architecture resulted from Taiwan’s reliance on US assistance, making the twenty years following the civil war the most distinct period of time in the history of Taiwan’s architecture. The divisions in history and the mix of architecture styles have given rise to today’s local cultures. And the construction project of Taipei Sacred Heart Girls University was a post-war cultural development imported into Taiwan from Japan, opening the door of opportunity for international and cultural exchange.