layer of Tainan
400 YEARS IN ONE Sugar BLOCK
FOOD DESIGN / CULTURE DESIGN
2020, Group Work, with Hsuan-Chih Hsu, Yu-Jou Yang
Work Contribution: historical research, design concept, material exploration, production, packaging design, set design, photography
A single block of sugar where we condensed Tainan’s entire history and injected the quintessence of our heritage. A sugar mill designed for people to savor Tainan’s culture through time and flavor. A everyday product which tells the story of Tainan. We call it ‹層- Céng › .
Layers of Tainan distills the historic experience of Tainan into a single block of sugar, offering you a new way to experience the heritage of Tainan. Each flavors delivers the essence of each historic regime to you in an intimate and multi-sensorial way.
HISTORY AT THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE
Symbol Reprresent Tainan Culture
The decorative metal window lattices which can be found in Taiwan’s back streets convey Taiwan’s traditional culture and history as well as the warmth of its people
BEHIND DESIGN
TAINAN | OUR STORY
Historically, Tainan is the first capital of Taiwan. Taiwan is an island, and the first nonindigenous people stepped onto this island. Since the 17th century, Taiwan has been through 4 different government regimes, from being a colony to now being a country, and Tainan has always been at the heart. It is also where I have the honor to call home.
The aura of Tainan is very laid back. We people of Tainan take a lot of pride in our identity, a result of our rich heritage. And our food and culinary culture is at the core of this pride and heritage.
SUGAR AS DESIGN VEHICLE
Our food shows our pride, and sweetness makes our food distinctive. We use sugar in our sauces, inour dishes, and well, basically a lot. Sugar is a crop and commodity that plays a big part in Tainan’s history and lifestyle, puncturing our entire heritage.
CONDENSE HISTORIC REGIMES INTO LAYERS OF SUGAR
‹層› means "layer". There are 4 layers for the 4 regimes of Tainan’s history, each representing the characteristic and historic significance of that regime through its contents. There is no dedicated direction of usage, and the order of introduction is in sync with the photo.