Taipei is a very modern city with a rich history. Many of the artists who live here are finding ways to keep Taiwan’s unique cultural traditions alive.
Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:54 Dadaocheng, meeting Zo Lin, foraging artist 02:14 Grassland’s Private Garden with foraging artist Tiffany Lai 06:41 Ximending, meeting comic artist Yeh Yu Tung 07:21 Wan Nan Building 08:11 Yeh Yu Tung’s Studio 10:23 Dadocheng Wharf 11:00 Taipei Main Station, Meeting Hsu Yenting, sound artist 12:35 Shing-Chen Street 14:04 Exhibition Hall Ever Burning 15:46 Jian-Guo Traditional Market, meeting contemporary artist Paco Uong 20:24 Taipei Tien-Hou Temple with collage artist Ni Jui Hung 22:13 Yat-Sen Park 22:53 Jui Hung’s Studio 24:50 Xiangshan
The host of this episode Allison Lin is an actress and photographer in Taipei, Taiwan. She studied interactive multimedia design at the Houston College of Art in the US. Allison meets the artists Zo Lin & Tiffany, Yeh Yu Tung (comic artist), Hsu YenTing (sound artist), Paco Uong (contemporary artist) and Ni Rui-Jung (collage artist).
Evoking grandiosity through carefully considered sharp points and rounded edges, the concrete super house by Joe Adsett Architects offers unrivalled views of Toowoomba’s sweeping landscape. Creating a piece of architecture that was befitting of the location and striking natural landscape,
Video timeline: 00:00 – A Welcome to Cliffhanger House 00:36 – The Location of the Super House 00:46 – Building On The Edge of A Landslide Zone 01:36 – Arriving At The Site 02:00 – The Vitrocsa Glazing Suite 02:40 – A Seamless Flow From Kitchen to Outdoors 03:00 – An Extension of The Main Living Area 03:14 – The Material Palette 03:52 – Emulating The Architecture Through Furniture 04:17 – Designing Weather Flexible Houses 04:41 – The Challenging Aspect of The Cantilever
Vitrocsa collaborated with Joe Adsett Architects to produce the concrete super house that fully embraced its location. Balancing at the very top of the site, the concrete super house offers views from East of Brisbane toward Picnic Point and Table Top Mountain. Whilst the home’s location is situated over a ridge, Joe Adsett Architects endeavoured to create more space by cantilevering away from the slope.
By projecting part of the concrete super house out from the built space, the ability to create a more functional living space with privacy from surrounding neighbours arose. Arriving at the concrete super house, the gaze is immediately ensnared by the curving concrete wall that cantilevers away from the base of the home. With the garage underneath the house offering one way of entrance, it is the curved pathway leading to the deliberately oversized glass pivot door that is the striking entrance of the home.
Working with Vitrocsa to create the glazing for the home, the frame of the windows was done with a slender aluminium product comprised of reinforced stainless steel. Made in Australia and designed to Swiss specifications, the framing offers unbroken views of the surrounding landscape whilst also bringing a seamless indoor-outdoor flow into the home. With restrained materials used across the exterior architecture, the interior design choices also reflect the primary theme of the concrete super house.
Softened with veneered timber products and large porcelain tiles, curves and sharp points are repeated through the joinery elements. Furthermore, the furnishings also introduce soft textures and colours that bring a humanising element to the concrete super house.
Pienza is a town in Tuscany, Italy. The central Piazza Pio II is framed by 15th-century buildings like the Pienza Cathedral and Piccolomini Palace. The latter was Pope Pius II’s summer residence and features a roof garden with valley views. Flemish tapestries and the pope’s embroidered cape are on display at the Diocesan Museum. West is the Pieve di Corsignano, a Romanesque church with a circular bell tower.
Mont-Saint-Michel, rocky islet and famous sanctuary in Manche département, Normandyrégion, France, off the coast of Normandy. It lies 41 miles (66 km) north of Rennes and 32 miles (52 km) east of Saint-Malo. Around its base are medieval walls and towers above which rise the clustered buildings of the village with the ancient abbey crowning the mount. One of the more popular tourist attractions in France, Mont-Saint-Michel was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
Mont-Saint-Michel is almost circular (about 3,000 feet [900 metres] in circumference) and consists of a granite outcrop rising sharply (to 256 feet [78 metres]) out of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay (between Brittany and Normandy). Most of the time it is surrounded by vast sandbanks and becomes an island only when the tides are very high. Before the construction of the 3,000-foot causeway that connects the island to land, it was particularly difficult to reach because of quicksand and very fast-rising tides. The causeway, however, has become a barrier to the removal of material by the tides, resulting in higher sandbanks between the islet and the coast.
A table! This October, we invite you to a dinner party – a roomful of transatlantic talent like Thomas Chisholm, the French-American chef shaking things up in Paris, New York-based French philanthropists Olivia and Jean-Pierre Chessé, and the team at Bragard, the French house that has been dressing chefs since 1933!
Also in this issue, read how Rousseau inspired not one, but two revolutions; travel to Camargue (“the French Wild West”); and meet French vanlifer Ben Quesnel, who left his job at Facebook to travel up and down the West Coast in a Volkswagen bus and turned his itinerant lifestyle into a company.
Taj Mahal, also spelled Tadj Mahall, mausoleum complex in Agra, western Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān (reigned 1628–58) to immortalize his wife Mumtaz Mahal (“Chosen One of the Palace”), who died in childbirth in 1631, having been the emperor’s inseparable companion since their marriage in 1612. India’s most famous and widely recognized building, it is situated in the eastern part of the city on the southern (right) bank of the Yamuna (Jumna) River. Agra Fort (Red Fort), also on the right bank of the Yamuna, is about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Taj Mahal.
In its harmonious proportions and its fluid incorporation of decorative elements, the Taj Mahal is distinguished as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles. Other attractions include twin mosque buildings (placed symmetrically on either side of the mausoleum), lovely gardens, and a museum. One of the most beautiful structural compositions in the world, the Taj Mahal is also one of the world’s most iconic monuments, visited by millions of tourists each year. The complex was designated a UNESCOWorld Heritage site in 1983.
Our Valencia travel guide! Never before has a city taken me quite like Valencia did. A weekend break to this Spanish gem inspired me to return just two weeks later to film an episode in Valencia.
Spain has a lot of great cities but there’s something about Valencia that just makes me…happy. The weather maybe? Or perhaps the food? Or the friendly people? Most likely it’s that elusive combination of all three. Valencia is one of those cities that has something to offer all year round.
The port city of Valencia lies on Spain’s southeastern coast, where the Turia River meets the Mediterranean Sea. It’s known for its City of Arts and Sciences, with futuristic structures including a planetarium, an oceanarium and an interactive museum. Valencia also has several beaches, including some within nearby Albufera Park, a wetlands reserve with a lake and walking trails.
Bolzano is a city in the South Tyrol province of north Italy, set in a valley amid hilly vineyards. It’s a gateway to the Dolomites mountain range in the Italian Alps. In the medieval city center, the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology features the Neolithic mummy called Ötzi the Iceman. Nearby is the imposing 13th-century Mareccio Castle, and the Duomo di Bolzano cathedral with its Romanesque and Gothic architecture.
Yogyakarta (often called “Jogja”) is a city on the Indonesian island of Java known for its traditional arts and cultural heritage. Its ornate 18th-century royal complex, or kraton, encompasses the still-inhabited Sultan’s Palace. Also within the kraton are numerous open-air pavilions that host classical Javanese dance shows and concerts of gamelan music, characterized by gongs, chimes and plucked string instruments.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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