Cool Taipei City - 1
(Taipei, Taiwan)
The thing which knocked out me at first in Taipei was a crowd of motor bikes.
As soon as a signal is changed in red, motor bikes spring out at the head of the waiting cars. The time when a vacant space in front of a pedestrian crossing is filled with those is a sign that a signal will be changed in blue soon. As soon as the signal change in blue, motor bikes start all together. But, in contrast with the power of motor bikes, they begin to run with correct drive manner. The marvelous orde is just the city of Taipei and the country of Taiwan.
A curator Mio Iwakiri analyzes that the reason a bicycle is not seen there is because it would not cool for Taiwanese due to the image of a bicycle in Continental China. Not only in Taipei but also in all towns in Taiwan, I could find no rental bicycle but only rental motor bike. I can only walk and see those since I have no certification in Taiwan.
In Europe, the sequence of architecture becomes a townscape. While, in Asia or the third world, noisy elements such as a sign or the laundry define the atmosphere of the townscape rather than the architecture oneself. When a Tokyo-based architect visits Taipei, it seems that a motor bike which is apart from the surface of architecture and moving at will seems to be a noisy element in the town and, that is, the townscape of Taipei.
Cheers for the motor bike!
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Everywhere in Taipei.
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2007.02 Photos and text in English version and Japanese version
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2018.01 Change of photos
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