Treasure Hill, Taipei, Taiwan | 藏巖國際藝術村
Featured by the New York Times as one of the must-see destinations of Taiwan, located in Gongguan, Taipei, Treasure Hill, originally was an illegal settlement founded by the Kuomintang military veterans at the end of 1940’s[1], shortly after World War II ended and the Japanese withdrew, the defeated Nationalist government of China retreated to Taiwan and brought over two million troops and their families with them. In need of housing and without a clear plan by the government for how to provide it, what were expected to be temporary residences were hastily built around the country to accommodate these veterans of the Chinese Civil War.
Treasure Hill has been under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, Japan, the Nationalist Government and the Republic of China. The history has marked its geographical traces in the buildings echoing in the lanes. During 2004 Treasure Hill become the first neighborhood to be officially registered as a historical community of Taipei. In 2006, OURs and the Department of Cultural Affairs initiated the program of “symbiosis,” which gave birth to the Artist Village. The residency artists create alongside with local residents. Together they form an artistic symbiosis and this continues as the mission of the Taipei Artist Village and Treasure Hill nowadays. This area relinquishes memories, stories, and traditions of the past generations. In some way, it is the Taipei’s reflection of the mind that the industrial city has not been able to reflect.
After a cooperation between the non-governmental organization, Global Activists Project and the Taipei City Government, they developed the area into an example of environmentally sustainable community[2]. Using concepts such as the policy of preservation and revitalization, the settlement delivered a new vision of an artistic compound, respecting the existing community fabric, as well fulfilling the symbiosis concept, incorporating communal production and ecology.
The Finnish architect Marco Casagrande, was commissioned by the municipal government to propose an ecological masterplan for the area[3]. Besides the illegal and marginal status of the settlement, it evolved organically and operate according to an ecological model applying recycling water systems using minimal amounts of electricity. Casagrande mentions that besides constructing wooden stairways and connections between the destroyed houses and some shelters for the residents, the ecological urban laboratory was already there.
In order to start this project, during 2007 the Police closed the area to guarantee safety for restoration work. During 2010, Treasure Hill was reopened as an artist village, with only 22 families managing to move back to the settlement. Originally it was populated by 200 families[4].
On the other hand, the project has been criticized to have caused the neighborhood to be stripped of its prior residents and turned into space which celebrates individual expression and artistic creativity at the expense of housing lower income families.
After years, the effort has paid off, with a variety of studios, galleries, cafes and, even space for international artist visitors. The further steps are to open a youth hostel. The Treasure Hill Temple acts as the gateway to the community, passing through it serves to remind visitors that a village is a place of transformation. Besides been an artist village, this community gears towards urban farming, sharing a variety of foods that have been grown, symbolizing life transition.
In this draft, Casagrande analyzed the current installations, and basically just add a stair connection system between each other.
Analysis of why Treasure Hill is a good case of urban acupuncture:
The families are integrated living with the artists in the same village, as well the artists are encouraged to take the community and its residents as the main inspiration for their artwork.
The neighborhood has been preserved under the Cultural Preservation Act and turned into an Artist Village, where artists can rent the emptied houses to use it as studios or as a living space. The complex includes various exhibition spaces and coffee houses.
The current status of the neighborhood has been settled after several negotiations involving many municipal departments and the residing activists/artists. Nevertheless, the project has been motivated with all the best intentions, overall it can be considered as a step towards the right direction, however, it is still far from being an ideal template for future plans of urban regeneration.
[1] "A hive of (Harrison, 2013) activity at Treasure Hill". Taipei Times. December 9, 2005.
[2] Levent, Efe (April 2011). "Questioning Individual Expression in an Urban Context: The Example of Treasure Hill". eRenlai. Taipei Ricci Cultural Enterprise.
[3] Kang, Min Jay (December 4–7, 2005). Con-fronting the Edge of Modern Urbanity — GAPP (Global Artivists Participation Project) at Treasure Hill, Taipei. Asian Culture Symposium. Gwangju, Korea.
[4] "Treasure Hill reopens as an artist village". Taipei Times. October 2, 2010.
