The Heart of Architecture,The Fire on Border- The Technology and Culture of Traditional Kitchen Stove

Mainstream researches on traditional architectural history tend to discuss the category of art and technology history. Their discursive terrain focus on the material and spiritual dimensions of architecture. The former dimension includes form, construction, and structure while the latter includes conception (especially poetic portion) of architecture, style and symbol. Scholars choose these objects according to form and Great History .Even these objects scale from “big roof” to delicate ones like brick, tile, and window carving etc, many spaces in everyday life are still treasures unfound. Traditional kitchen (with its stove) is profoundly one of the cases.

Stove (Zao) is exactly the engine and central landmark of kitchen. It’s gradually disappearing. Stove was the main cooking utensil in the phase of agricultural society in Taiwan. It fed all of family. Many people still remember adding firewood into the stove, looking at their mother preparing food, waiting to eat, and the unforgettable thriving scene: in kitchen, many women were busy working during Chinese New Year. These are the mutual heritage of affectionate signifier and golden memory of childhood.

However, the use of traditional stove was punctuated by the rapid modernization of the society. The way of life was changed. The design of modern kitchen was influenced by the different use of energy. The technique of catching fire was simplified and the layout of space were affected by the aesthetics of Western Bauhaus: simple, bright, fitting Ergonomics. Through experience research methods, we could explore the complexity of spatial formation and use, while having more insight into the consciousness of the entire household.

Since this thesis is based on the dialogue with traditional architectural history, I’ll mention the whole construction system of stove, including Feng-Shui theory and the technique of craftsmen. Then we look into the people and culture in space, such as the experience of using stove and the belief of kitchen god. We are also surprised that in private, no-mentioned space, the construction, design, and use of stove serves as a hub connecting geography master ,craftsman, house master, and those who cook (women are the important figures).And we could realize the establishment of motherhood and division of household labor from another point of view. From images of women using stove, we get a picture of the mystery history of kitchen where people’s affection interweave a tangled yarn. Through the formation of stove, we see the epitome of space, life, belief and power polarization, all of which provide another critical perspective of architectural history.

Chapter one and two are the description of the problematic consciousness, literature review , theory models and research methods; Chapter three refers to the construction of stove (the formation of stove).At first, this thesis simply introduce the origin and location of stove in architecture. Before making stove, one must consider planning theory like Feng-Shui, the ceremony of setting or pulling down the stove. Then we discuss the phase of design and construction which includes fuel material, fire-way technique, building technique. Finally the chapter ends up with a craftsman Chen’s demonstration.

Chapter four refers to the life context of stove and its related behavior. We’ll mention the applied technique (catching fire, cooking) and stove as a means, through which people react to each other while kitchen god is there watching everything. Space ,therefore, provides multilateral fields. When cooking becomes a social activity, we could see the complicated relationships and culture. The word”atmosphere” is used to describe the communicative language and the interactive affection. Then, from literature and painting about stove, we interpret the aspect of affection towards stove. In the end , we find the symbol of stove is connected with the meaning of home. Chapter five explains the reason why traditional stoves disappeared – modernization. When did modernization begin? How was the lifestyle changed? And the thesis reveals the meaning of gap between traditional kitchen stove and modern kitchen unit, such as gas heater and microwave oven.

In chapter six, traditional kitchen stove’s position in architectural history will be established and the reason why it’s absent in architectural history would be analyzed. Stove constructs the whole life by trialectics of space- gender- capital. It is the heart of architecture,which not only links the public and the private ;space and people together ,but also takes responsibility of feeding and maintaining people. Although stove is on border (the edge of space and gender), by seeing it, we inspiringly sense a kind of transdisciplinary scope emerging. The writing of architectural history should be open-mined to multilateral analytical tools.This idea clearly elucidates why I use the title: “The Heart of Architecture, The Fire on Border.” Due to time frame and resources, the research field (time and place) chosen by this thesis would be set in postwar Taiwan.