Entries Tagged as 'Houses'

Old houses of Kaohsiung

Taiwan in general and Kaohsiung particularly is not renown for its architecture. There are some worthy modern buildings and some nice old ones but for the most part, Kaohsiung is full of ceramic tiled, rust stained concrete boxes.

Most of Kaohsiung has been built in the last 60 years. The first half of that period people were poor and the national identity characterised Taiwan as a temporary refuge before returning to the mainland. There was neither the money nor the pride to build beautiful houses.

The last 30 years Taiwan has increased its wealth but I contend it is yet to find a pleasing national style that combines concrete, steel and ceramics beyond simple functional boxes.

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On a couple of recent outings I captured a number of interesting houses in Kaohsiung. [Read more →]

The old and the new

Every time we visit my wife’s family village we always stop by a number of Aunt’s and Uncle’s to say hello. There are about 20 such households so we never visit them all each time. But there is one house I really enjoy visiting each trip we make. This couple live in a traditional Taiwanese house that was build nearly 60 years ago and though a more recent wing has been added, Uncle and Aunt still prefer to live in the old centre of the house. The main room contains the shrine, tea brewing set, family wedding portraits and the ubiquitous TV.

The main living room

[Read more →]