How do we design for everyday culture
 

urban politics studio: taipei

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​The Urban Politics Studio will continue to focus on investigating architecture in relation to urban political dynamics, through looking at it from the perspective of the city and its users. One of the studio’s intentions is to raise awareness of the complicity of architecture with politics, financial and industrial interests and address this.

This year, we will use Taipei as a laboratory for urban research and design. We will focus on designing for culture, exploring the tension between the high-brow culture and the arts, and the low-brow culture of everyday life. These two come together in the old, vibrant and dense Shilin night market of Taipei, featuring the new iconic Taipei Performing Arts Center (TPAC), designed by OMA. With the project due for completion, this is a particularly interesting moment to discover if and how it will be incorporated into the existing city fabric.

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What does culture mean? Can it be designed for, or does it need to grow naturally? Why do iconic architectural projects pop up in every major Asian city? Is architecture a tool to attract tourism or is it serving the local community?