Hydraulic Engineering Office

Due to its small size and high population density, as the economy grows, Taiwan's land utilization rate is very high, making land resources very vulnerable in Taiwan. Every year, Taiwan is threatened by heavy rains and typhoon, and a large amount of rainwater flows into the rivers, causing flooding along the rivers. In order to prevent flooding from affecting the safety of the residents along the river, the construction of embankments is one of the fast and efficient ways to prevent the flooding.

As the City Government has been actively building various waterfront projects these years, to change the past situation where the embankment was stiff and not compatible with the environment and landscape, we hope that the embankment could be combined with the elements of local characteristics through landscaping, so that the embankment would not only have the function of flood control, but also be close to the lives of the local residents, and that the cold stone wall would be transformed into a creation with warmth and stories. With the successful completion of the Sulfur Creek embankment landscaping project in 2020 and the city's embankment landscaping (Phase 5) outsourcing project, the Hydraulic Engineering Office's Taipei New Embankment Project achieved excellent construction results and won the 9th Taiwan Landscape Award-F Special Theme Category (Landscape Art) Masterpiece Award.

IDEA ︱ First Curatorial Project

The artists have conducted an in-depth study of local cultures to compile elements, and have collected a large amount of oral and documentary data through interviews, briefing sessions and a site survey, which are then professionally transformed by design and presented in each artwork in the way that each expert specializes in, with the hope that these local characteristics and memories acquired through oral traditions and in-depth exploration of the place can truly be presented and become a piece of life-size paintings situated in various parts of Taipei City. This will become a huge picture book of the places located in Taipei City, so that people who come here can understand more about the present, past and future of these places.

IDEA ︱ Co-creation Workshop with Artists

Artists from the co-creation workshops lead the public to use different ways to create the artworks. Also, by using professional design or art techniques to integrate the artworks into the picture, so that the public will have a greater sense of common pride in the embankment artworks to achieve the purpose of local resonance, and we hope that each embankment will have its own unique local symbolism.

IDEA︱Integration of Environment and Existing Landscape into Works

The artist integrates the theme expressed through the site survey, fine-tuning and combining it with the site, so that each piece of artwork is presented in the site to achieve the best integration with the environment and existing landscape.

When the artist is designing and planning the artwork, he/she will organize the artwork through the living habits of the local residents and the space, so that the picture can not only present every aspect of the place more completely, but also make the artwork more interactive with the public and attract more people to take photos, thus reaching an important milestone in the revitalization of the place.

Six main design themes:

1. Transforming local culture into artwork

2. Combining artists in co-creative workshops

3. Integrating the environment and existing landscape into the artwork

4. Artist painting in person

5. Interactive paintings on the embankment with the public

6. Ecology and painting correspond together