"Time" is an element StudioX4 has been discussing for years. In every corner, we try to let people "see or touch the passing of time" — the focus is not the result, but the process of experimentation.
Before discussing time as an element, we first have to accept that time is fragmented, difficult to use in creation. It is not a form that can be categorized into a style — and this is the first problem we have to face.
Fortunately, the site sits on the ground floor of a walk-up apartment in a busy district of Taipei. The old streetscape around it provides enough history as nourishment, and enough daylight for the use of materials to be more easily observed. We present "time" in every corner of daily life:
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【Rain Chain and Rain】 We can feel time through the change in material properties. The glass rod used to guide liquid in chemistry experiments gave us the inspiration, so we replaced the traditional rain chain with rebar, and applied rust protection to the steel around it. Only the rebar rain chain is left untreated, so it reacts with time and rain.
【A Bed of 17 Trees】 The bed frame uses Taiwan native Cryptomeria, sourced from the mountains of Hsinchu. After resting and drying, it retains the original tree's growth rings and cracks.
【The Staircase and the Nude Descending】 Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase gave us a strong inspiration. Time is fragmented — we perceive it only by seeing the process of movement. The glass staircase makes the process of walking perceptible, and heightens the emotion of walking.
【Column and Beam】 Hand tools slowly carve out their original form — not new, not old. Interestingly, while carving the beam, we uncovered a glove left inside the formwork 35 years ago.
【The Fixture's Rust and Its Original Form, Twins】 Carbonized iron eventually becomes rusted iron.
【The Process of Movement】 Through physical movement, time becomes visible.
【The Moon】 The moon does not emit light — it reflects. The center is the original floor, retaining the dirt and time of construction, set against the surrounding surfaces.
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