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.

On a couple of recent outings I captured a number of interesting houses in Kaohsiung.

Initially the intention was to capture some of the old wooden houses that might have some Japanese architectural influence. There are a few wooden houses in Kaohsiung, they are old and quickly vanishing. I read they are difficult to insure.

If you look up past the overhead power lines and rust stains some other small gems can be found.

Like these few with a tinge of 1960’s art-deco influences

The deep red brick houses can be quite attractive. Most red bricks are porous so they don’t make practical exterior walls unless they are eaved or are double course.

There is still the odd traditional house to be found inside the city.

A three story house squeezed onto a slither of land.

An old dormitory house of Taiwan Power Company. The sign still rests above a chained closed door.

Here are a few examples of styling on facades.

But you really have to look hard to see past the plain old ugly.

There are plenty more pictures in the Kaohsiung Houses album section.

Though Taiwan has experienced sixty incredible years of progress since this house was built, the architecture of house building has done nothing but regress. Sometime during the 50’s the ceramic tiled, steel reinforced concrete, multi-story terrace house was introduced. The ceramic tile size and colour has changed since then. But precious little else!

It is difficult to love the modern Taiwan house. They are irregularly shaped concrete lumps with rooftops covered in water tanks, TV aerials and ramshackle steel extensions. Tiles often fall off or are stained by rust welts or concrete ooze. Wiring, air-conditioning and clothe drying fixtures are half-heartily tacked on the sides. And when these additions inevitably fail, an equally poor replacement is attached without bother to remove the old. What’s more, they all leak!

But the old style houses have character. The external walls are made of small red bricks often partly rendered. Internal walls are made of large bamboo vertical and horizontal beams. Between these beams a course woven bamboo mat is placed , covered with mud and rendered with plaster. The roof beams are bamboo and the roof tiles are a dense pack of the classic red Chinese half shells. The roof line extends past the wall line to ensure rain does not seep through the rather porous red bricks. The floors are large red terracotta tiles and the main entry has dual heavy wooden doors, wooden hinged top and bottom and wooden bolted.

Here a similar house nearby has the brickwork ready for future side extensions that were never built. This three sided shape house facing a concrete courtyard is a very traditional rural Taiwanese style.

Other than the new wing, Uncle and Aunt’s house has had electrics and mosquito screens added since it was built. But otherwise, it is still in its original functional form. As a living room wedding photo taken in front of the house in a different era proudly shows, this was the golden age of house building in Taiwan.