Pioneer of Regionalism: Chen Ren-he (陳仁和) Centennial +3 Architectural Memorial Exhibition

Chen Ren-he (陳仁和), born in 1922 on Jibei Island (吉貝島), Penghu (澎湖), went to the "Special Department" of the School of Science and Engineering at Waseda University (早稻田大學) in Japan in early 1940 to study architecture and graduated in 1944. He started his practice in Kaohsiung (高雄) in 1951, and his first important work was the Kaohsiung Buddhist Temple (高雄佛教堂) (1954-1966). Subsequently, in the 1960s and 1970s, he designed many more popular works, such as the Sanxin High School of Commerce and Home Economics (三信家商) Student Union Hall (1962), the Sanxin High School of Commerce and Home Economics (三信家商) Wave Building (1963), the Kaohsiung Datong Elementary School (高雄大同國小) Old Auditorium and Kaohsiung District Mutual Loan and Savings Association (高雄區合會) (1964), the Mingshan Temple (明善堂) in Fengshan (鳳山) (1965), the Pingtung (屏東) Office of the Kaohsiung Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative (高雄青果合作社) (1969), the Kaohsiung CPC (中油) Staff Quarters, News Village No. 1 (新聞一村), and Longhu Convent (龍湖庵) (1970), as well as the Fengshan Meat Market (鳳山肉品市場) (1976/1985) and other fine works.

Chen Ren-he's (陳仁和) works combine structural expressiveness and reflect the local climate, showing a strong structural expressionism with local characteristics. His architecture foreshadowed the healthy direction that Taiwan's architectural culture should take: diverse, integrated, vibrant, and creative. In most of Chen Ren-he's (陳仁和) photos, you would always think he is someone around you, an "Ojisan" (uncle) you would encounter on the streets of Kaohsiung (高雄). It is this "everydayness" that plainly reflects the regionalism in his architecture. The path Chen Ren-he (陳仁和) walked will serve as a reference point for Taiwan's architectural culture in finding its next direction.