The pressure on the East Asian cities has led to an increasing urbanization and densification during the last decades. It has made way for the construction of giant buildings, mostly towers, blocks and slabs. These western-standard and homogeneous buildings, however, gradually replace the traditional low-rise and small-scale houses. Collaborated with MVRDV, a Dutch architect office well-known for its radical design and solid research, the exhibition offers a radical alternative for living –The Vertical Village, a three-dimensional community that brings personal freedom, diversity, flexibility and neighborhood life back into East Asian cities.

Based on three-year detailed field research in 9 different Asian cities, the exhibition consists of analytical research data, a grid of models, five documentaries filmed different families in Taipei for their expectations of house, two interactive software for visitors to design their own vertical village and, moreover, one 6-meter tall installation featuring the possible vertical village to expand visitors' imagination. What is next? There is no absolute answer in this exhibition but a viewpoint stimulating visitors to think what kind of life they are looking for. More discussions about city development, users' perspectives and culture preservation are expected through this exhibition since a better tomorrow should be tuned with local culture, not following standards without questioning.

About the curator

MVRDV was founded in 1933 by Winy Mass, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It works in the fields of architecture, urbanism and city planning and is well known for its solid research-based design method and radical design thinking.

About the exhibition

Date: 2011.10.08 – 2012.01.08
Place: URS21 Chung Shan Creative Hub, Taipei City
Curator: MVRDV