In 1963 Lin Chiung-yao, founder of Kaohsiung’s San Sin High School of Commerce and Home Economics, commissioned architect Chen Jen-ho to design classrooms with tiered seats, to give her students a better view of their teachers and the blackboards. Chen grappled with structural challenges, a tight budget and other difficulties, eventually creating the unique Wave Tower.
On the outside of the tower, you notice exposed T-beams, spaced at 90-centimeter intervals. These both stabilize the structure and support the undulating shape of the floors, which mimics the movements of waves. Along the corridors are concrete benches that rise and fall with the wavy floors, while two exterior spiral staircases connect the stories. These features breathe rhythm into an otherwise unpretentious concrete structure. Inside, the classrooms are cleverly designed to facilitate teaching and learning. The podiums are situated at the wave troughs, while the seats are installed in tiers along the rising curves. The sequence of waves means that students seated in adjacent classrooms face in opposite directions.
Through meticulous engineering, Chen succeeded in crafting the consecutive spatial rhythms of the Wave Tower, bringing together novel architecture and educational functionality. This is one of Taiwan’s most characterful school buildings.
