TOTO GALLERY·MA will be holding an exhibition by Fieldoffice Architects, an architectural practice based in the regional city of Yilan in Taiwan.

Fieldoffice Architects is an architectural team composed of architect Huang Sheng-Yuan and youths from throughout Taiwan who have found resonance with Huang’s architectural philosophies and visions. After being founded in 1994, the office has gradually enlarged its ranks of individuals with common minds to develop into the large atelier with many staff members that it is today. Huang, the studio’s founder, graduated from the Department of Architecture of Tunghai University before traveling to the United States, where he acquired his master’s degree at Yale University. He later built his experience working in an architectural firm in Los Angeles, but he returned to Taiwan after he had developed doubts about the practice of focusing on producing signature architecture. He found Yilan as a new place where he could engage in his activities while maintaining his belief that architecture must serve as an interface for dialogue that connects people, society, nature, and the environment.

When Huang established his base in Yilan, he held a wish to create an “ideal city” in Yilan with his architecture. He sought to identify an ideal form for the city by listening to the voices of the inhabitants, speaking with the authorities, and carefully researching the climate and lifestyles in the rich landscape of Yilan, which is situated between the ocean and mountains. His work has not been limited to designing independent architectural projects; rather, he has been actively shaping the city by drawing out the potential of Yilan through making promenades to connect together his buildings, developing infrastructure that generate flows of people, and drawing up grand urban plans with a long-term perspective. His office’s work, which has been expanding like the vascula bundle(vessels) that deliver water and nutrients by splitting and growing from the roots, stems, and leaves of a plant, continues to be at the center of attention in the architecture community of Taiwan.

This exhibition introduces the work of Fieldoffice Architects through models, photographs, videos, and installations themed on four “afterthoughts” that the studio has gained through their efforts to shape the community of Yilan over the past 20 years.