The Flora Expo: Both Moving and Beautiful

The Flora Expo: Both Moving and Beautiful
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
November 5, 2010

The Taipei International Flora Exposition is opening tomorrow, and will remain open for six months. The expo has opened during election season, amidst the "fog of war." The political bickering may have blunted the public's initial enthusiasm. But people can now leave behind the odor of political rhetoric. They can wander through the Expo's colorful gardens, and appreciate the ingenuity of its green building designs. The public on Taiwan will be left even more amazed at the Flora Expos' soft power.

Although it is known as the "Taipei Flora Expo," it is in fact a venue for horticulture, architecture, culture, art, and technology on Taiwan as a whole. The world flora expo has been held 49 times. Not one of them compares to this one. No one has ever had such ambitions for a horticultural event. No world flora expo has been this extensive. In addition to displaying the artistry of our flower growers and the ingenuity of our horticultural industry, it has shone a spotlight on our local culture, history, and technology. It is far more than a run of the mill flora expo. It is a rare opportunity for us to shine on the international stage.

The Shanghai World Expo has just ended. To a considerable extent it provided a stimulus for Taipei's own "Mini Expo." The two cannot compare, either in character or in scale. But both are six-month events. The Taipei Flora Expo cost 10 billion NT. It will attract 8 million visitors. The Shanghai World Expo cost 400 billion RMB. It attracted 70 million visitors. David must be perfect when challenging Goliath. This means we must not only plan well, we must also be gracious hosts. Only then can we succeed.

The Flora Expo venue covers 90 hectares. Ninety percent of the flowers are locally grown. For years flower growers and the horticultural industry on Taiwan have dedicated themselves to the development of advanced cultivation techniques and a professional division of labor. They have achieved considerable visibility in the international arena. Unusual flowers and trees have been distributed throughout the gardens by skilled craftsmen, in a colorful manner. Flowers and trees are silent. Bees and butterflies arrive on their own. New ground has been broken throughout, leaving visitors amazed. Visitors who come merely to demagogue the "water spinach" issue, will soon discover that their labors are superfluous.

What leaves one stunned are not just the flowers, but the exquisite design of the exhibition as a whole, its attention to detail and to self-improvement. Three tranquil, low profile pavilions, covered with vegetation, have been constructed around existing trees. These pavilions may be disassembled and the land restored to the park. No footings have been poured, anywhere. In an effort to avoid burning the feet of birds and insects that might alight, no concrete or steel has been used, anywhere. Architects introduced water from the Keelung River. After passing through gravel, water spinach, water oats, and other aquatic plants, the purified and filtered water is used to irrigate plants. It is also recycled and used to cool the surrounding air to 22 degrees.

These architects treat design as a spiritual discipline. Self-promoting politicians may stand before the public and rant about 500 NT water spinach. But what are they doing, except administering poison to individuals of talent?

The Pavilion of Dreams uses sophisticated information technology to move visitors. It allows audience members to participate in a dialogue between man and nature. Through electronic sensing technology and giant LCD screens, it allows them to enter the world of flowers, through the eyes of insects, to enter to blossoms, to spread pollen, to breath with and feel the pulse of flowers and trees. The Pavilion of Dreams does not contain a single real flower for blade of grass. It uses science to put the audience into landscapes created by artists. Ultra thin film speakers have been made to look like flowers. These flowers dance in tune with the music. This teaches viewers a lesson about nature while immersing them in beauty.

From a practical perspective, some degree of confusion will be difficult to avoid. Traffic control, park reception, and the maintenance and planting of flowers and trees, will make opening day a real challenge. Organizers must be on guard. Visitors must try to be cooperative. For the public on Taiwan, the exposition is not merely an international flower market, or a horticultural festival. It provides us with a deeper appreciation of beauty, of sustainable development, with a life education. The Pavilion of Trends features a "Ecologicial Ark" design. It is the world's environmentally friendly building constructed entirely out of recycled PET bottles. It takes advantage of wind direction and building slope to optimize light and heat energy, and to achieve maximum carbon reduction. The use of PET bottles to create a green building that is also aesthetically pleasing constitutes a significant breakthrough.

As one enters the Expo, one sees not just colorful flowers and unusual trees. One experiences the rhythm of nature from the perspective of an insect, via high technology. One experiences green architecture, and how it sustains the life of greenhouse flowers. More importantly, it enables visitors to take away an aesthetic experience to be shared with their communities and neighborhoods, It allows them to make their own homes more beautiful. No longer need we endure pockets of wasteland. Builders and architects will be inspired to evince greater respect for the works of man and nature, rather than think only of how to convert square footage into dollar bills.

The Shanghai World Expo has helped Shanghai become more polite and more civilized. Will the Taipei Flora Expo do the same for Taiwan?

走進花博，發現感動，帶回美感
【聯合報╱社論】 2010.11.05

台北國際花卉博覽會明起將揭開半年的展期。在選戰硝煙中開啟帷幕，或許有些掃興，但民眾穿過腥臭的政治口水噴泉進入花博的堂奧，徜徉在花木繽紛的庭園，欣賞充滿巧思的綠建築設計，會對台灣民間豐沛的軟實力發出更多驚嘆。

雖稱為「台北花博」，它其實是整個台灣花卉園藝加建築、文化、藝術及科技的一次集體大展演。世界花博辦過四十九屆，沒有一個國家像台灣這樣，把詮釋一場園藝盛會的雄心延展到這麼遠、這麼廣；除了展現花農的妙手和園藝業者的巧思，更把台灣文化、歷史和科技的精采面全搬上花博舞台，遠超過一次典型花博的定位。這是台灣難得的國際演出機會。

剛結束的上海世博，相當程度刺激了台北把花博辦成一個「小世博」的企圖。就性質和規模而言，兩者其實不易相提並論，但同樣半年的展期，台北花博以一百億元台幣的經費，要吸引八百萬人參觀；比起上海世博投入四千億人民幣，接待了七千萬人次，以小搏大的算盤打得更精。這也意味，台灣在精心策劃自己的演出之外，還得扮好東道主的角色，才算成功。

花博九十公頃的園區，近九成花卉都是本土栽植。這些年來，台灣花農及園藝業者致力栽培技術的研發及專業分工，在國際上已有顯著能見度。綻放的奇花異木，透過工匠巧手散布在各色風格的庭園中，花木無語，蜂蝶自來，處處別開生面，讓人驚艷。專為「空心菜」而來的訪客，亦會有不虛此行的領悟。

驚艷的不止是花卉，而在整個展區設計理念的細膩、用心和進步。毫不喧譁的新生三館，以謙卑的姿態將自己包覆在草木底下，側身擁抱園中原有的每棵老樹；考慮日後要還地給公園，不在地面打下任何基樁；為避免落腳的鳥類和昆蟲燙腳，完全不用水泥或鋼材。建築師並從基隆河引進水源，經過礫石及空心菜、茭白筍等水生植物的過濾淨化，用來澆灌花木，更循環利用而為周遭送出廿二度的清涼空氣。

像這樣把設計當成修行般在奉守的建築師，若還要為五百元的空心菜站在公眾面前自我辯駁，那不是政治對人才的荼毒嗎？

夢想館的感動，則是運用台灣成熟的資訊科技，讓觀眾親身融入人與自然的對話之旅。透過感測技術和超大型電控液晶螢幕，人可以像昆蟲那樣進入花朵的世界，擁抱子房、散播花粉，用呼吸和脈膊召喚花木一同成長。沒有一株真實花草的夢想館，由科學家將藝術家的創意變成觀眾能置身其中的場景；超薄紙喇叭打造的花葉，可以隨音樂綣縮、綻放、舞動。這不僅是一課絕佳的自然教育，更是珍貴的美感沐浴之旅。

從現實面看，台北花博的營運，從交通控管到入園接待，乃至花木植栽的保養維護，在開幕初期可能充滿著挑戰，亂象難以避免。這點，主辦單位要更繃緊神經，參觀者也必須設法配合。對台灣而言，這場博覽會的意義，絕不只是一場國際花卉市集，或是一次園藝嘉年華，其間還傳達了更深刻的美感及生命教育、乃至永續經營的生態理念。包括流行館「環生方舟」的設計，是世界首座以回收寶特瓶磚打造的環保屋，運用風向與建築高度的相對關係，讓光與熱的利用達到最佳節能減碳效果。寶特瓶也能表現綠建築概念，且具有審美效應，亦是不容易的突破。

走進花博，人們不只看到繽紛花朵及奇花異木，也透過科技化身為昆蟲感受人與自然的律動，並見識綠建築如何維持溫室花朵的生生不息。更重要的是，民眾如何把這些美感經驗帶回家，帶回自己的社區和鄰里，把家園變得更美麗，讓周遭不再有荒煙蔓草的角落；並啟示建商和建築師如何在作品中融入更多對人與自然的尊重，而不是一心只想把容積率換算成更多鈔票。

上海世博讓上海人變得更禮貌、更文明，台北花博也能讓台灣變得更美麗、更有深度吧？