The Man Behind Chinese Postmodernism
and the World's Tallest Building

Long before the international community recognized C.Y. Lee as the architect of the world's tallest skyscraper -- the 508-meter-tall Taipei 101 -- his distinct buildings were already turning heads in Asia. Few of his compatriots had ever seen anything like the Fang Yuan Mansion in Shenyang, China, which was inspired by -- well, actually a 100-meter-tall rendition of -- an old, square-holed Chinese copper coin. Structurally, it was a Western building with its concrete and steel, but aesthetically, it was an emblem of the East.

For Lee, that was the point. In the mid-1980s, after more than a decade of working as an architect in the US, he wanted to create something distinct for his own country. It was a look that was boldly traditional -- a new Chinese postmodernism.

Born in Kantong, China in 1938, Lee studied architecture at National Cheng Kung University, and after graduating, left for America to earn his MFA at Princeton University. Besides a two-year stint as an architectural consultant for a construction company in Taipei, Lee remained in the US, working in Pennsylvania, Boston and Los Angeles, before returning to Taiwan to found CY Lee & Partners in 1978.

When I met Lee in his office, I found him a priestly man with a polished veneer, sorcerer eyes and a mug of respectability. He was wearing a Chinese-style xiang yun sha silk shirt, a traditional style not often worn today. Three golden Buddha statues perched on each side of his office wall. Both the man and his space are conspicuously traditional, just like his buildings.

Fountain: When you returned to Taiwan after living in the United States for more than a decade, what was your impression of architecture here?

Lee: When I was in the United States, we were designing buildings all over the world, but my contribution to my country and my people was very little. I returned because I wanted to do something for Taiwan. I believe architecture should serve its people. So for me, psychologically, it was very important to come back home. Taiwan at that time was still into "internationalism," a universal style of architecture applied all over the world. But when I came back, people would ask me, "Can you design something for the Chinese?" It was the perfect opportunity for me. I was in the right place and at the right time.

Da-An Public Housing [in 1987] was my breakthrough project, because it was the first time a client -- the government -- would accept my modern Chinese design. It was a breakthrough in many ways. First, as public housing, it had to be low-cost. But we said, "Public housing is one type of housing. It has to be romantic and related to the life and culture of a people." All over the world, the public housing you see looks like military camps, but we redefined what public housing is and made it fit to the culture.

Fountain: What inspired your style of Chinese postmodernism?

Lee: After the Chinese Revolution in 1911, the wooden-structured houses in China deteriorated, so we were left to modernize our architecture in less than 100 years. As a Chinese architect, I felt I had to move Chinese architecture into the modern world. So that meant starting at zero, learning, experimenting and seeing how far you could go.

The first thing you have to do is your homework: study the tradition, culture, and philosophy of your people. It's a learning process and in the first stage you are copying motifs. But when you copy, you aren't satisfied, so you revise. You look inward to find the essence of the culture, and when you've found it, you jump to another level. For me, that project was the Hong Kuo Building.

Fountain: Your Grand 50 Tower takes motifs from a Chinese pagoda, and your T&C Tower in Kaoshiung was inspired by the shape of the Chinese character gao (tall), which is also the first character of the city's name. With Taipei 101, what are you trying to communicate to the rest of the world?

Lee: The most important thing to me when designing my buildings is the expression. Expression is an identity issue, and the identity of a building is the comprehensive result of its shape, motifs and overall look. When people see Taipei 101, I want them to say, "This is oriental." It's difficult to explain why it is oriental, since a kind of building like this would never show up in the Western world. But now we're developing an identity of our own. When you see Taipei 101, you will say, "This is Chinese architecture."

Fountain: I understand you are a devout Buddhist and follow the teachings of Monk Wei Jue and Master Mou Zong Shan, a Confucian philosopher. Can you tell us how their teachings and philosophy have influenced your work?

Lee: I became a Buddhist 20 years ago. I studied Buddhism with Monk Wei Jue, and Master Mou Zong Shan taught me about Chinese philosophy. Because of them, I now fully understand where I come from and how Chinese culture relates to my life. This has given me the confidence to do what I'm doing now and also provided me a guideline for where I am going.

Fountain: The concept of yin-yang is very important in Chinese culture. Do you consider this concept when designing your buildings?

Lee: Yin-yang is not an issue, because it's always there. There's always a negative and positive. The shape of a building is more like a positive -- a yang -- and the space surrounding it is the yin. Feng shui masters will tell you that the yin isn't really good and the yang is always better.

Fountain: Today, eight of the top ten tallest buildings in the world are in Asia. Initially the investors behind Taipei 101 weren't planning on making their building the tallest in the world, but your firm persuaded them. Do you think owning the tallest skyscraper serves a psychological need for Asia?

Lee: To challenge height, and to be the tallest building in the world, is every country's ambition. The taller the building, the more skillful you have to be. So by having the tallest building in the world, you are representing your country's skills and technology.

Why Asia? Probably because we can afford it now. Of course we're also psychologically satisfied because we have the power, the money, and the technology to build the tallest building in the world. It's an icon, but like the Olympic medal, it's only good for one moment -- but it's still worth it. And in the future, if we have an opportunity to build taller, we will, of course, do it.

Fountain: Your projects have generated extreme opinions. Some say that your buildings lack artistry and that your "loud" visceral style leaves nothing to the imagination. How do you respond to your critics?

Lee: I think for an artist, the most important thing is to truly believe in what you are doing. Why bother with criticism when criticism is always there? We will wait for history to judge our building. Whatever people say doesn't bother me at all, because I know what they are thinking when they see the buildings.

But, like doctors, when it comes to what we do, architects always see the errors and not the positives. That's our terrible professional habit. With Taipei 101, the details, the motifs, and the craftsmanship could have been better.

Fountain: Finally, any advice to young architects?

Lee: I think for an artist such as an architect the first mission is to develop a creative thinking related to your culture. It's to do your own thing, but not your own personal thing; instead one related to your people. It's important for a nation to have an aesthetic identity -- that's what Master Mou Zong-shan taught us and I am following his guidelines. Look at the Chinese people, we're a quarter of the entire world population, with a 5,000 year history, but we don't have our own thing. It's a shame. We need to develop our culture, because if we don't make a contribution to the world, we are nothing.

For more information on C.Y. Lee, go to http://www.cylee.com.

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