Tiechuanghua（鐵窗花）Workshop

Tiechuanghua are a disappearing part of streets in Taiwan. While we often credit blacksmiths for Taiwan's "Iron Flowers," their designs actually trace back to the domestic art of Jianzhi, or paper-cutting, practiced by women at home.

In the 1970s, Taiwan's "Living Room is the Factory" (客廳即工廠) policy turned homes into small manufacturing hubs — and it was the homemakers who became the invisible designers of Taiwan's streets. Windows had to stay open around the clock for ventilation, and tiechuanghua became the solution: letting the house breathe while keeping it safe. What we see as art today was a functional response to a new way of living, designed by the people who knew the home best.

In this workshop, we are going to archive this disappearing history by looking behind the iron to find the invisible designers who gave Taiwanese houses their character — and following that same path from paper…