Prototypes, Google Translate & Toast for Dinner

Our last three days in Taipei have been a whirlwind of creativity. It began with a visit to Yingge, the pottery capital of Taiwan, just a little outside of Taipei. We perused the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, and visited a nearby pottery factory where we toured the space and painted our own cups and mugs! Watching master craftsmen utilize centuries-old techniques and see their echo through their modern pieces was visually stunning, but also resonated on a deeply human and historical level. So far, it has been very mesmerizing to see traces of history and tradition in ever-evolving crafts like pottery. I think the dedication and carefulness to preserving some of these techniques, colors, and motifs communicate generations of appreciation for the culture that is wonderful to see so clearly through these newer artifacts. After Yingge we travelled back to Taipei to visit Dot Design. Dot Design is well known for their sustainable practices and clever uses of recycled material. We got the chance to understand what their design process was, and how they made some of their products (like this super cute recycled paper cat container). I am very interested in sustainability within design so visiting Dot was wicked cool. One thing Lance Han, designer at Dot, said that really stuck with me is that industrial designers especially have this sort of 'original sin' we inherit. It isn't really a secret that objects can be wasteful not only in their production but in their afterlife as well. I think I have always been aware of this 'original sin' in the back of my mind, although at the time I didn't have the language to describe it how Lance did. I also wasn't aware of the considerate, and more thoughtful era of design we are moving towards. I have always been passionate about using trash and the weirdest things to make stuff, so this just fueled my fire. Additionally, an award sat in almost every corner of their studio. Having submitted to the same competition they had awards from and being shortlisted, I am super motivated to try and submit again just to see what happens!

The following day was a full-on work session. Our team navigated the challenges of language barriers, exchanged skills, and learned from one another. Despite not all of us being design majors, we came together to form a pretty cool project (if I do say so myself). Our group created spice jars to hold traditional Chinese 5 spices, so often used in food here, that mimicked old houses and roof styles here in Taiwan. We were heavily inspired by all the tiles in the Pottery Museum and wanted to play around with that idea and form. Despite our, sometimes clumsy, google translate interactions with our group student from ShiChen University (SCU). Unlike language, one thing I have discovered is a universal medium- is clay. No matter where you are from, molding and squishing a fresh chunk of clay is one of those rare things that doesn't need a translation. To make our spices jar house shape, we covered a used black tea carton with air-dry clay we had gotten the night before. Despite the conversation being mostly wordless, in my opinion, that's when we connected most. I think that is one of those moments that reminds you of the humanity in all of us and kind of makes you think about how simple some things are. It's nice to see these moments within people and within design as well.  We wrapped up our workshop with a presentation and even won the 'excellence in execution' award. As we were heading over to dinner for the end of our time in Taipei we ran into Professor Yeng-Chen Lu, as a group of us were hesitating to climb into our Uber on a busy street. As we told him "We aren't sure if we can get in right now!" he shouted back: "Of course you can, it's Taiwan!". think that moment will stay with me for a very long time. We arrived ACME, where I had avocado toast for dinner. I would like to consider this breakfast, but honestly, I have breakfast for dinner often, which was a comforting end to a rewarding day.

On our off day, fellow students Ned, Kalin, and I explored the northernmost tip of Taiwan. We saw absolutely gorgeous landscapes, had some yummy market food, and hiked around Shifen Waterfall Park. The roads in that area closely resemble scribbling you'd see on your walls after a toddler accidentally got ahold of a Sharpie, but the drive was magnificent. I'm a bit of a racing nerd, so in between gawking at the tall mountains, I couldn't help but think how fun it would be to race down the twisty roads. 

Today to officially end our time in Taipei, we hopped on the high-speed rail to Tainan, where we will be staying for the rest of our program. We've already just met the students from National Cheng Kung University, and there is great excitement for what's to come.