Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Architecture

  • Grey Days in Taipei

    I had a day wandering the streets in the rain last weekend, and it was well worth checking out some of the nooks and crannies of Taipei that I have not returned to in a while. It has been seriously pissing it down for months now (without much exaggeration) with a seemingly daily shower timed to coincide with leaving the office. Its really getting a bit boring and predictable!


    Orange Adidas hit the MRT escalator


    A taxi lies in wait


    Wandering off to Guanghua Arts District to check out one of the graduation shows.


    Zhongshan / Zhongxiao intersection while waiting for the lights to change.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • TiT Taipei

    I love Taipei.

    All the building developments in the city have an enormous amount of money thrown at marketing and branding, usually ending up gleefully making impossible promises about the life-changing factors that come along with purchase of your, as an example, ‘Noble City Castle’.

    However, there are times when the English checking team clearly left early for the day, and you end up with such incredible names as this – opposite the Siemens / Nokia building on MinSheng and Fuxing – it must have made their day.


    Town in Town = TiT


    And seen in context … of one of the busiest intersections of the city.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Shanghai & Hangzhou

    Well, there is a reason they call it a ‘kickoff’ meeting … we waited six months to start this project, and now I am spending more time abroad than I am at home. I can’t relax as much as I might like, but if you know me well you’ll know that I maxed out on the fun, frolicking and food – and most importantly had the chance to meet up with Anke, Lars and Bump (a huge part of the Singapore story that I was not allowed to divulge is that Anke is preggers with a baby – Made in China of course – and she announced it on the beach… hang on, this is too important for brackets…)

    So – congratulations guys! You have your own paragraph now… look how spacious it is!

    Anyway – I spent the days visiting clients and factories, and the nights heading out with the crew and meeting some new and old friends, and some like Simon that I know through multiple contacts, but never actually saw face to face. Anyway – not too good with words right now, so here are some pics. Ahh.


    Shanghai World Financial Centre – not without its fair share of controversy… its original (elegant) shape had a large circle in the top … but the locals are still rather sensetive about the whole Japan thing, and so dropped that for some kind of melted square hole. And in the process of the delay lost top spot as the world’s tallest building.


    Not quite the world’s tallest building … on the streets of Shanghai


    View from one of the client offices – quite funny to be up above one of the recognisable locations in Shanghai – The Pacific Mall (same name as the one in Taipei!)


    Elevated


    Sunset in Shanghai


    View from the Galaxy Hotel (translation ‘Star River’)


    Road block


    Hangzhou sunset – really rather wonderful


    Loch Ness


    Shattered mirror (just look at the texture on that one, Michael and Markus!)


    Totally ridiculous – the only thing missing was the whiny Chinese music


    It’s really amazing to be around Taiwanese guys when they come to China… there is all this tension, but at the end of the day their culture is rooted here, and they know all of these stories… quite touching. Here is Alfie contemplating things.


    Bikes – Shanghai Style

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Yes. I do!

    Looks like we got an answer to our big question!


    Yes. I do!

    There has been more than a little controversy over this proposal… which surprise surprise turned out to be a fake, and an attempt to drum up business for the world’s (maybe) tallest building.

    The cost for proposing in this way? About 300,000 US$, so you better be sure he/she says yes! (I wonder, is the reply included in the price?).

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Marry Me – Diana

    Taipei 101 – now available for rent … I wonder if she said yes?


    … Quite a trend of using the world’s tallest buildings to propose, eh Ele?! 🙂

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Windows on Taiwan

    Growing up in the West, there are many things that you assume to be universally acknowledged as a Good Thing, but this is not always the case. Windows are a nice example; in the West, they add greatly to a living environment and raise the value of property by allowing light in and a view to be presented to the lucky inhabitant.

    Here, they seem to be a necessary evil, added as an orifice for the air conditioning units. If the small size of the windows was not enough, very often a layer of dark plastic is applied over the top to stop too much natural light in, and bars are then drilled into the fabric of the building. People have explained these bars in various ways – for security, to stop babies falling out, and so on – but I am positive it is much more culturally ingrained than that. I am just sure that the link between the inside and outside world is much less obvious here.

    In general, people seem to place much less emphasis on the outward appearance of a dwelling, focusing instead on the interior decoration. This is not always the case, as there are too many stylized European villas and castles to explain it that way, but there is something different going on with the relationship.


    Enjoy the view

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Tokyo Plastic

    Back in Tokyo, and ready to leave after a few days staying with Kaoru. This time, returning has been fantastic, but very different to last time. Whereas with the previous visit everything was new and shiny, this time I more or less knew my way around the major locations. As a result, I focussed my efforts on Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku … I decided I wanted to know less areas better, rather than seeing more of Tokyo.

    Anyway – gagging for breakfast, so I am hardly in the best mood to write!

    Next stop – Yokohama and Osaka. I’ll be bullet training in front of Fuji and claiming the cities for the Tokyo Shogunate!


    View at night from Kaoru’s apartment – thanks so much for letting me stay!


    Old shack in Shibuya


    Close up


    Super glamour in Shibuya


    View by day


    Roofs


    Harajuku girls – a tourist attraction in their own right


    A traditional Japanese wedding in progress at Meiji-Jingu, near Harajuku


    And another! Don’t ask me what is going on, but it looks like a scene from Star Wars


    Omotesando hills, with live orchestral accompanyment


    The Prada store – designed by Herzog & Meuron


    Inside, looking out at all the poor people


    Stairs – I am convinced photography was not allowed, but I had a nice looking camera, so who cares?!


    Human traffic again, viewed from Starbucks

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Kyoto Jazz Massive

    Kyoto is now officially one of my favourite places on the planet. The weather has been nigh on perfect for my time here and it has been truly splendid seeing the city.

    The highlight of the trip – just perhaps one of the highlights of all my travelling – was renting a bike and riding around in the winter sunshine on a rented bike with my Cambridge University scarf waving behind me. I had a smile on my face for the entire day, popping from temple to temple, putting my head round the door of a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and cutting up taxis riding just like a student so late for their morning lecture there is simply no point rushing any more.

    It would be very easy to overdo the temple thing here. They form the city’s major industry and have done for the last thousand years. I think I have done a reasonable job mixing it up though, making sure I also include some gardens, pagodas, food and stopping to ponder the immense complexity of this society – at once immediately accessible and frustratingly impenetrable; espacially here in Kyoto.

    I suppose the feeling I have of this place is of awe, but in a similar way to the secretive halls and passages of Cambridge University, even if I was Japanese I would have difficulty breaking more than the most superficial of surfaces – let alone understanding the place.

    I’ll have one more day to soak, then I will have to the even more historical capital of Nara and then on to Tokyo for a weekend of eating, shopping and drinking with Kaoru. Should be a blast, and a nice contrast to the hostel + ‘cultcha’ of this place.

    Ridiculously beautiful and endlessly layered, this place is beguiling.


    Sanjusangen-do. This temple had 1001 human-sized standing buddas standing inside. Each budda sported 40 arms. Each of those arms are able to protect 25 universes from evil. In turn, each can save 25. So, this insurance policy – an insurance policy that took 100 years to build – can protect a total of 30,033 worlds from destruction, and save mankind. Seems… a touch… excessive.


    Kiyomizu-Dera – UNESCO World Heritage Site


    The weather was simply perfect


    Pagodas in the mist


    What more to say? I played for a while with B&W;


    Views over Kyoto


    Happy Budda at the love temple – I would be too, surrounded by such beauty


    Hon-do – rather an arresting site in the gorge


    Even lamps in the cafe got my pulse racing!


    Everything – everything – seems to be considered and nicely executed, with little design solutions everywhere you turn


    Yeah, so my new camera has depth of field – you guys have guessed. Again, not Sakura!


    Port hole


    The roofs just blew me away every time


    3G monk!


    Heian-Jingu is a rather large and gaudy temple – or shrine, I always get them mixed up – in a very Chinese style


    Fortunes tied to trees


    Ginkaku-Ji, or the Silver Pavilion, is another UNESCO site. Very nice, but with a pretty ugly Zen garden (in my opinion) and rather too many chattering tourists


    Make a wish


    Tools of the trade on show at Ryoan-Ji. But he messed up all the raking!


    Hi Contrast


    Layer cake


    Icy cold sunshine


    Is this just the nicest row of buckets you have ever seen?!


    A very pleasant lunch while looking out across an immaculately manicured garden


    Hello … or rather Konichiwa


    At the Imperial Palace … much more well preserved than the other places. But with an organised tour, lots of camera toting tourists and a slightly hygienic feel, I think other locations were better


    Yeah sorry! Sakura? No.


    A lovely garden… but I have begun to realise that while Japanese gardens seem to be made for looking at, Western gardens are for sitting in. If I sat down I am sure a necromancer or irate gardener would shoo me away!


    Too cool!


    The English chap I hung around with for a couple of days; a hip hopper from Oxford

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Love is in the Air

    … it must be, because the Taipei Municipal Government says it is.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…

  • Carsten Höller – Tate 2006

    I LOVE THE TATE MODERN.

    Every time I go it just manages to blow me away with its scale and scope, and yet with its openness and refreshing lack of hautiness so common in modern art galleries.

    I love seeing the tourists’ faces when they come upon the Turbine Hall. No doubt, they have been dragging their families from tour to museum to exhibition and you can imaging the kids whinging that they would really rather be having a Happy Meal thankyou very much. But that is all forgotten, and as the American art students studiously take notes, Grannies strain their necks and bepolonecked German art critics reflect, a dozen kids whizz around the exhibition imagining they are space fighters. This has happened three times in as many years (before with Anish Kapoor and Rachel Whitbread), and it is a credit to the curators that they can draw in such disperate groups.

    This time though. This time. Wow. Never have I been challenged with such a physical, kinetic assault that at the same time piqued my engineering, art and whizz bang kiddo sensibilities. Forget all that – I WANT TO GO AGAIN!

    For Carsten Höller, the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a ‘voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’. The slides are impressive sculptures in their own right, and you don’t have to hurtle down them to appreciate this artwork. What interests Höller, however, is both the visual spectacle of watching people sliding and the ‘inner spectacle’ experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend.


    One thing I love – it’s free entry and the dryest route between the South Bank and the St. ‘Blade of Light’ Pauls Bridge … take 2 minutes or 2 days, as you please


    LEVEL 5


    It is quite popular – the image of kids egging their Mums on to the slide, and then the shrill scream of fear and joy as they hurtle down the tube was very amusing … almost as amusing was to sit near the bottom and watch people land, their faces lit up, before they allowed themselves to compose themselves once more as they walk away.

    The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…