A New Humanism: Chen and the Bookstores
that Reinvented a Society

In 2004, Ray Chen won "Asia's Most Influential Designer" award from the Hong Kong Design Centre for a bookstore in Taiwan's second largest city of Kaohsiung. The store was one of more than two dozen he has created for the Eslite chain, one of the main cultural engines in Taiwan.

In addition to selling books, Eslite hosts literature events, art shows, lectures and performances all around the island. And if one person is responsible for the Eslite look -- and even more than that, the Eslite feel -- it is Chen.

Over the last two decades, Ray Chen's Eslite stores have become symbols on a national level, a sort of societal shedding of utilitarian cocoons for a new humanism in architecture. For Chen, this was the point. His aesthetic vision was never simply about designing a fresh new look; it was about imagining a new lifestyle.

Now 49, Chen grew up as an heir to Taiwan's first island-wide ice cream chain, but his inclination towards aesthetics was too strong to stick with the family business. He studied design in Tokyo and went on to work with recognized architects Tadao Ando and Huang Yung-hung before establishing his own firm in 1991. Sitting down with him in the 25,000 square-meter Eslite Xinyi flagship he recently designed, Fountain talked to him about the roots of his aesthetic vision.

Fountain: Your latest Eslite store, the Xinyi branch, is the biggest bookstore in Asia. How is it different from your earlier designs?

Chen: Because the Xinyi store was so big, I was able to play with the space, and design each section according to the category of book. For instance, the literature section was very much influenced by the feel of old libraries such as those at Harvard and Cambridge. You will see hanging lamps and lamps on tables to create an environment suited for a scholar. I wanted to create an atmosphere of history so that as the bookstore gets older, its flavor improves.

I used the Japanese book section to express my feeling of the Japanese character. The Japanese are a very nervous and disciplined people. I used metal to express this feeling. Compared to say leather, there's a feeling of coldness in metal. It's not cozy or warm. It makes you nervous, which I feel exemplifies the people. Also the color scheme I used in the Japanese section is very uniform -- and unlike the Chinese section, which has a lot of different designs -- it is easy to handle and control.

My favorite section is the simplified Chinese book section. Most of the book covers in this section are very much influenced by the Chinese Revolution and designs from the Russian revolution. The aesthetics are low-key and not so noble, more akin to elements of the common people. I tried to use this feeling to create a space that was intellectual and modern without being cold. The fluorescent lighting in this section is used to create a museum atmosphere, and if you stand in the center of the room, the high bookshelves will make you feel surrounded by books.

Fountain: You've said that it was your years in Japan that inspired you to become a designer. What was it that struck you there?

Chen: Seeing Japan was a complete culture shock for me. It was nothing like the buildings I had seen in Taiwan. It was only in Japan that I saw real architecture. I bought two guidebooks -- one on east Japan, and the other on west Japan -- and traveled to check out all of the design spaces in there.

I remember especially loving the city of Kyoto. I felt nostalgic for the city, but I didn't know why. It was only later in my life that I realized I had found a physical and spiritual home in the architecture there. One work called "Time's 1" by Tadao Ando caught my attention. Many of the elements Tadao applied to his design, such as his use of light, were heavily influenced by the Sung dynasty [10th to 12th century], which was a liberating period inspired by the natural, spiritual, and humanitarian -- all the elements that comprise Zen. Back in the Sung dynasty, people were sitting on the floor with little furniture, and so their light source came from below. The atmosphere of the Sung dynasty -- quiet, meditative, and delicate -- was preserved in Kyoto. It is this kind of humanitarian spirit that I wish to apply to my work.

Fountain: I understand you use the Chinese painting method of liu bai ("leaving blank") in your designs. What other concepts have influenced your design?

Chen: Liu bai was a landscape painting technique used in the Sung Dynasty to deliberately leave space blank in order to communicate something. I believe it's an absolute necessity for the creator to "have the abstract" in order to communicate with the viewer. People who are short sighted will see a few landscapes, but people with imagination will see a whole world in front of them.

When I design, I see music. French composers Debussy and Ravel are the two artists who've most influenced my design. Impressionism in music, as in painting, focused on feelings and on the abstract, not on sensibilities. That was the charm of the Impressionist era. If there were a time I could go back to, it would be the Impressionist era.

Fountain: Your designs always appear effortless. Are there any specific materials that you use to achieve this particular effect in your work?

Chen: The look of effortlessness is not easy to achieve. People often define my work as simplicity or minimalism, but it's really about liberating your mind. I believe it's important to pursue nature, the origin of substance. Only then can you set yourself free.

As far as materials, I don't like pretension or anything ornate or artificial in my design. I prefer using materials as-is -- in their original form -- and I like to use natural wood and no paint if I can help it. I like the appearance of something being "used." I like to see traces of life in my material. In the old days, Chinese antique collectors would use their hands to speed up the age of jade. Caressed by time, the stone would have a special beauty. Visually it may have appeared simple, but it was spiritually rich.

Download the article (.pdf format)

© Copyright 2002 Holidayness.com All rights reserved