Taiwan Today

Visitors to Cingliao Holy Cross Catholic Church in Tainan County never fail to be impressed by the structure’s striking appearance, especially after learning that it is Taiwan’s first building to be designed by Pritzker-prize winning architect Gottfried Boehm. In what would be one of his first overseas commissions, the Hesse-based Boehm drew up plans for the church without seeing the site. The world-renowned architect is the son of Dominikus Boehm, one of Europe’s most respected designers of Roman Catholic churches and ecclesiastical buildings. According to Shyu Ming-song, a lecturer at Ming Chuan University’s Department of Architecture, construction of the church in Houbi Township is credited to the efforts of parish priest, Eric Jansen. Jansen began missionary work in the area in 1955, doing everything he could to befriend the local people while raising funds to build a church. Through another German priest based in Tainan County, Jansen commissioned Boehm to design the structure. Shyu said local architect Yang Jia-ching drew detailed plans based on Boehm’s blueprint and sourced suitable materials for the building. Yang made the German’s plans understandable for local workers. In addition to the building, Boehm also designed religious artifacts for the church, including the baptism basin and cross and crown appearing atop the steeple. Lin Jun-han, an architecture student at Tainan-based National Cheng Kung University, made a big discovery three years ago when visiting the church with friends. He stumbled across a bulging package wrapped in Kraft paper that contained Boehm’s original manuscript in pen. Overawed by the discovery, Lin said he photographed the plans before returning them to the church. He later sent copies to Shyu, knowing that the academic was leading a project documenting Taiwanese postwar architecture. (PCT-JSM)