UN LABORATORY: PROJECT ARCHIVE
16 Years of Spatial Pedagogy and Social Practice · 2007 – Present
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Archive Overview
UN Laboratory operates at the intersection of spatial practice, education, and community engagement. Across two island territories — Lienchiang (Matsu) and Kinmen — the Laboratory has developed a sustained body of work that treats architecture not as a fixed discipline but as a living, participatory act. Each project is conceived as a site of learning, exchange, and cultural production.
Chapter I · Lienchiang
Four interconnected initiatives — documentary media, heritage education, a community art festival, and an artist residency — that together constitute a sustained experiment in island-based cultural pedagogy.
Chapter II · Taiwan

Chapter III · Kinmen
Three projects — visual anthropology, a heritage salon, and an independent bookstore — that reframe preservation, civic discourse, and aesthetic education as instruments of rural revitalization.
Chapter I · Lienchiang
L1 · The Knowledge Commons: Mei Stone Art & Heritage Education Garden
Hybrid Learning Environments
Conceptualized as a "Common Ground" for all, this project explores the physical extension of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). It investigates how online knowledge flows can be anchored by offline spatial experiences, creating a hybrid learning environment that fosters deep intellectual exchange.
Spatial Logic & Social Interface
By integrating historical fabric with modern educational networks, the space functions as a bridge between tradition and future choices. It provides a structured yet flexible setting where island residents of all ages can engage with global ideas, transforming a heritage site into a living laboratory for community pedagogy.
Chapter I · Lienchiang
L2 · Mei Stone Art Residency: A Multidisciplinary Creative Incubator
Creative Incubation & Lived Practice
Positioned as a dynamic co-living and co-working space, this residency program is designed to incubate young artists and creative minds. It provides an integrated environment where daily life and artistic production intertwine, offering comprehensive support from conceptualization and studio practice to final exhibition and performance on the island.
Multidisciplinary Community & Spatial Settlement
Welcoming a diverse array of talents — including curators, musicians, writers, designers, and even culinary artists — the program acts as a multidisciplinary crossroads. It prioritizes emerging creatives, utilizing flexible spatial designs to foster cross-cultural dialogue and collaborative innovation, proving that creativity is not just a form of expression, but a sustainable way of living.
Chapter I · Lienchiang
L3 · Mei Stone Art Festival: Fostering Socially Engaged Art and Community Resilience
Art as a Catalyst for Resilience
The festival was launched to revitalize the local spirit through socially engaged art. It approaches creativity not as mere decoration, but as a catalyst for community resilience — opening new imaginative possibilities for both the youth and the elderly in Matsu.
A Multidisciplinary Stage
Despite logistical constraints, the festival provided a stage for diverse voices to converge. It successfully demonstrated how artistic intervention can strengthen local identity and memory, inviting individuals from different disciplines to reimagine the island's future through collective creative action.
Chapter I · Lienchiang
L4 · Visual Narratives: A Youth Documentary & Media Literacy Initiative
The Concept
Rooted in a commitment to bridging the rural-urban educational divide, this initiative functioned as an experimental pedagogy for island youth. Rather than merely teaching technical camera skills, the program immersed 16 students — half from Matsu and half from Taiwan — in an intensive cross-cultural exchange. By combining storyboarding, paper art, and local historical field trips, it equipped children with the digital tools and critical thinking required to document their own changing environments.
Spatial & Sensory Practice
Hosted at the Mei Stone educational space, the curriculum extended beyond visual mediums. It incorporated hands-on sensory activities, such as making traditional tofu pudding with diverse local ingredients. This seemingly simple act served as a powerful metaphor for cultural inclusion and the coexistence of different communities on the island, teaching students to understand their homeland through taste, memory, and spatial interaction.
Chapter II · Kinmen
Projects in Kinmen
In Kinmen, UN Laboratory's practice shifts toward preservation, civic discourse, and the establishment of rural intellectual infrastructure. Each project treats heritage not as a static artifact but as an active participant in contemporary life — a medium through which communities can articulate their past, negotiate their present, and imagine their future.
K1
Intergenerational Lens: A Masterclass in Visual Anthropology
K2
The Island Oasis: Establishing a Decentralized Knowledge Hub
K3
Heritage Salon: Reimagining the Courtyard as a Civic Forum
Chapter II · Kinmen
K1 · Intergenerational Lens: A Masterclass in Visual Anthropology
The Concept
Building on the ethos of community investment, this program operated as a dynamic master-apprentice exchange. It paired legendary photographer Qin Kai with local high schoolers, approaching photography not merely as technical training, but as a method of visual anthropology to document rural life.
Social Impact
The initiative cultivated civic engagement by allowing the younger generation to archive the fading textures of Shuitou's architectural and community life. It transformed everyday streetscapes into a profound intergenerational dialogue, ensuring local history is preserved through the eyes of its youth.
Chapter II · Kinmen
K2 · The Island Oasis: Establishing a Decentralized Knowledge Hub
Cultural Governance
Conceived as a decentralized knowledge hub, this initiative introduced Kinmen's first independent bookstore into a remote historical settlement. It functioned as a curatorial intervention, carefully selecting literature on architecture, art, and aesthetics to stimulate local intellectual curiosity.
Spatial & Social Impact
Supported by national cultural grants, the bookstore evolved into a vital intellectual infrastructure for the island. It demonstrated how rural reading initiatives can transcend basic literacy, offering a sophisticated platform that roots aesthetic education deeply within marginalized communities.
UN Laboratory · Project Archive · 2007 – Present
Chapter II · Kinmen
K3 · Heritage Salon: Reimagining the Courtyard as a Civic Forum


Spatial Practice
This salon series reimagined a traditional Minnan courtyard as a modern civic forum. By opening up a historic residential space for public discourse, we aimed to contextualize localized preservation efforts within the broader, global framework of World Heritage.
Curatorial Intent
The physical setting catalyzed organic intellectual exchange. By immersing attendees in the very architectural fabric they were discussing, the event dismantled barriers between academic experts, international volunteers, and local residents, proving that heritage requires active, continuous conversation to remain alive.