Sustainable Material Design for Yilan County Fishing Culture Conservation Association

fThe southern Yilan port of Nan-Fang Ao not only has a beautiful harbor, but because of offshore currents and copious amounts of fish, this has been a most important fishing port since the Japanese occupation. Nan-Fang Ao has seen many different ethnic groups since ancient times, thus, naturally developing into a sort of maritime culture melting pot.

In addition to fishing, the fishermen believe that prayer is extremely important to maritime safety as well as the amount of fish caught on each mission. Upon entering the village, one’s attention is immediately drawn to the fact that this fishing village is built around some magnificent temples of a great scale. Belief in God, and worship for the fisherman in the village plays an important role in life; with all kinds of temples representing the most important deities, religious activities, and gatherings, etc., belief has become a huge part of the fisherman’s mutual respect for the sea.


The dilapidated ship hulls are dismantled to be considered waste and disposed of.

Nan-Fang Ao, surrounded on three sides by mountains, is one of Taiwan's three major fishing ports and is a very affluent town; it offers rich resources, many beautiful environmental sceneries, progressively popular tourist and commercial activities. After a visit to Nan-Fang Ao, the shipyard and shipbuilding factories would probably leave the deepest impression of how life is at the port. Even through these difficult economic times, newly built ships are large and small, all created at the hands of skilled masters, while the shipbuilding workers in the pit work non-stop. A replacement hull lay outside, waiting for the arrival of a fisherman who could not avoid the equipment upgrade. Many shipyards younger generation want to learn the traditional handmade wooden shipbuilding, however the market and demand are almost non-existent, as we have fast, modern and lightweight fiberglass boat hulls readily available. On other side of the shipyards, old, dilapidated ship hulls are waiting to be dismantled; this is inevitable for old ships, and after salvaging any valuable motors, large hunks of metal and other items, the rest of the hull is considered waste and disposed of. This is a phenomenon that many modern port towns must cope with, not to mention the massive amount of waste that is left behind for the town to manage.


The lightweight fiberglass boat hulls has substituted traditional handmade wooden shipbuilding.

This could be considered the starting point of the ideal, ‘Recycle’. We have collected wood removed from the hulls of ships, wood that has seen countless storms at sea, and have created transformed home furniture not only for the residents of Nan-Fang Ao, but for any person who would like an elegant piece of the port’s history in their home.

Works:

Shipyard Furniture: Armchairs, dining table and chairs


Designed by Gina Hsu , Nagaaki Shaw
Material: Nails, cypress wood, scrap boat wood



The Shipyard chair uses wood taken from the cabin of a fishing boat, namely the captain’s quarters’ wooden bed, turning this into a recycled, yet useful piece of furniture, as well as represents the old captain’s power at the helm of a once great ship.


Alignment notch still retained in the wood.

The rebirth chair with the damaged ship.

Chair latch is using latch technology of boa.t

Fisherman’s floor lamp and table lamp

The lamp for attract fish and squid up to the surface of the water.

Product sketch.

Fishing Culture + Gina Hsu, Nagaaki Shaw

Material: Scrap boat metal, discarded light bulbs, anchor

Whether used in the fishing process, or in the boats return to the port, light represents something very important in sea life, as it acts as the only clue people may have in a sometimes pitch black environment. When used in their life at home, this also true. This piece sees the use of onboard items such lights used to attract fish and squid up to the surface of the water and anchors as well, put to use in a slightly different manner therefore extending its usage indefinitely, as well as ultimately becoming a wonderful accessory to any dark environment.

The iron works services for the fishermen in the port.

Welding product.