「過去」的哪一部份值得保留，哪一部份應該被消除？
我迷戀「時間」，因為在時間之內，一切才富有意義。
「怎麼說呢？」拿著電視遙控器的你正無意識地轉台看倒數直播。
「如果2021年沒有來，才沒有人要回顧2020年，如果沒有一年的終結，才沒有甚麼頒獎典禮，有了時間，才有限制，所有的事必定有所終結，在終結之前就是經驗，在經驗中才有我們。」我覺得時間總令事物衰落又同時令事物重生，所以人才有希望。
而在時間的流動中，人類經歷了聚落，這是時間給我們的禮物，在聚落中我們得到了集體回憶，這些體驗成就了文化及價值觀。
我住在台南，好一段時間我都未曾踏足過彼鄰的高雄，直到認識了高雄舊城「鹽埕」，這地方改變了我對高雄的印象。自明鄭時期，「鹽埕」當地居民便以曬鹽為生，有了生計，便發展出「聚落」；到了日治時期，鹽埕中的鹽埕町更是台灣上流商業文化聚落，1936年高雄裡最早最大的銀座商場（現稱為「國際商場」）正式在鹽埕町落成，那是它最輝煌的日子。
高雄現存的「銀座商場」在時間的流動之間，由日式傳統建築「半樓仔」（一樓是店舖，閣樓是住家）到60年代商圈店家集資到日本參考東京銀座商圈後，改建成現在的拱廊商場，整個建築物是相連卻獨立的五層樓，並於三、四樓共享走廊天井，屋頂則以透明拱形上蓋連結，直接引入自然光線，這種建築物是全台灣獨有的。
可是，一轉眼已年華六十，時間讓「銀座商場」光芒退卻，甚至沒落。後來，鹽埕好不容易因駁二特區的出現，從寂寞的中心一點一滴被重新發掘，像邱承漢的團隊，把「銀座商場」的舊日風光整理，再次邀請人們來親自經驗，聚落文化才得以出土。
2020年，「叁捌地方生活」工作室的邱承漢在已經差不多被大家遺忘的銀座商場裡成立了「銀座聚場」，以五層旅宿結合咖啡廳，讓遊人經歷鹽埕的人情故事。
「銀座聚場」這棟民宿，每次只接待一組旅客，好讓旅客能待在民宿獨處，唯有成為聚落的一分子，親自體驗那拱廊商場，聽著電單車在迴廊發動的聲音、在三樓共通的走廊跟鄰居相遇、欣賞午後陽光從透明屋頂灑落室內地板⋯⋯旅人在這建構著「銀座商場」的新記憶，空間同時也讓人在時間流動中經驗著未知。
聚場有不少舊物，舊物反映時間，但就像「銀座商場」，如沒有人的經驗，記憶將沒法流動，這些舊物融入銀座聚場的每一個角落，團隊希望人們珍愛使用，並藉此聯繫到過去的生活。
如果器物沒有成為博物館中的展品，那麼在不同時代的人們之間應用時，或許會有全新的共鳴，就像呼應常常淹水的鹽埕跟川流不息的昔日光景，水藍色調成為了銀座聚場的風格，在使用舊物及聯想中，同時勾起回憶及重新想像，觀察這些小細節，最好是坐在銀座聚場的客廳一邊發呆一邊經歷。加入了旅人的回憶，幾十年後的銀座商場將會為鹽埕帶來更豐富的故事，時間的流動，總讓人期待。
銀座聚場
地址：高雄市鹽埕區五福四路260巷8號
Which parts of the “past” are worth preserving, and which should be eliminated?
I am infatuated with “time” because only within the frame of time is everything meaningful.
“How so?” You casually switched channels with the television remote control in hand and began to watch the countdown live broadcast.
“If 2021 was not coming, nobody would bother to look back on 2020. If the end of the year didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be any award ceremonies. When there is time, there will be limitations. There is an end to everything, and before that, there are experiences, and it is within experiences that we exist.” I feel that time always brings about things’ demise and also rebirth at the same time, and this gives us hope.
The passage of time witnessed mankind living in settlements — a gift from time. Within settlements, we gained collective memories, and these experiences have in turn nourished our cultures and values.
Residing in Tainan, I had not visited the neighboring Kaohsiung City for quite some time. It was until I became acquainted with Yancheng, an old town of Kaohsiung, which has changed my perceptions of the city. During the Ming-Zheng Period (from 1661 to 1683), the local population of Yancheng, which literally means salt fields in Chinese, already started making a living by sun-drying salt, and thanks to this livelihood, a settlement was developed. Then under Japanese Occupation, Yancheng District within Yancheng even emerged as an upper-class commercial and cultural settlement in Taiwan. In 1936, Kaohsiung witnessed the official completion in Yancheng District of Ginza Shopping Arcade (currently International market), the largest of its kind in the city, marking the district’s heyday.
The present-day Ginza Shopping Arcade in Kaoshiung has witnessed its transformation over the course of time. It initially took the form of puann-lau-a (半樓仔),a traditional Japanese structure featuring shops downstairs and residences in the attic. Then in the 60s, shop owners in the commercial district pooled funds to make a trip to Japan to draw inspiration from the Ginza commercial district in Tokyo. Subsequently, they transformed the building into its current arcade form. The whole building comprises five floors, which are at once independent and inter-linked, with the third and fourth floors sharing a corridor and a courtyard. An arch-shaped transparent cover forms its ceiling, bringing in natural light. This type of building cannot be found elsewhere in Taiwan.
Time flies, and sixty years of time have washed away Ginza Shopping Arcade’s glimmer, bringing even its downfall. It was only at a later time when it got rediscovered bit by bit from desolation, thanks to the emergence of the Pier-2 Art Center in Yancheng. A case in point is Cheng Han Chiu’s team, which made an effort to reorganize the former glory of Ginza Shopping Arcade before inviting people over to experience it for themselves, thereby bringing to light the culture of settlement.
In 2020, Cheng Han Chiu of 3080s Workshop established House of Takao Ginza in Ginza Shopping Arcade, which has all but faded completely from everyone’s memories. It is a 5-storey accommodation for travelers with an on-site café, offering travelers a chance to experience the human warmth and stories in Yancheng.
The B&B House of Takao Ginza receives only one group of guests every time so that travelers are on their own inside the B&B, naturally becoming members of the settlement. They get to experience the arcade, listen to motorbike engines starting in the ambulatory corridor, bump into neighbors along the shared corridor on the third floor, and taking pleasure in watching beans of afternoon sunlight slanting through the transparent ceiling onto the floor indoors….Here travelers construct new memories of Ginza Shopping Arcade, and within this space, everyone is able to experience the unknown as time drifts away.
In the House there are plenty of old objects, which reflect time. But as in Ginza Shopping Arcade, without humans experiencing it, its memories will not be able to flow. These old objects have been incorporated into every corner of House of Takao Ginza. The team hopes that people can show care and love when using them, and that through them, they can connect with life in the past.
If a piece of ware has not become an exhibit in a museum, it might strike a new chord when being used by people from different generations. It could be echoing with flood-prone Yancheng and with the continuous flow of its past scenes. Aqua blue has become an integral part of House of Takao Ginza’s style. The process of using old objects and generating associations arouses memories and re-imagination. For observing these small details, nothing beats sitting in the sitting room of House of Takao Ginza, where you can zone out and experience simultaneously. Thanks to the addition of travelers’ memories, a few decades later the Arcade will be able to contribute even more enriching stories to Yancheng. The passage of time always brings with it a sense of anticipation.
House of Takao Ginza
Address: No.8, Lane 260, Wufu 4th Road, Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City
