Linking Seven Military Landscapes Create a War Museum
The main scope of the Kinmen Military Landscape Museum lies in the Great and Lesser Kinmen Islands. There are seven bases in total. These seven landscape architectures are military facilities built between 1950 and 1980 for the war. Originally they are tunneled artillery fields, dormitories for canal guards, shooting ranges, coast guard zones, military roads, meeting grounds, and coast guard bunkers. There were approximately 100 thousands soldiers stationed in Kinmen.
As the turn of time and space, the needs for war in the Great and Lesser Kinmen Islands are no longer urgent. However, concerning the crucial issues of tourism, transportation, environmental conservation, bird watching, and educational exhibition, they have become the new missions of these seven military landscapes.
It is not a single site. Our sites are seven areas within the Great and Lesser Kinmen Islands.
Our clients provide large amount of abandoned military objects and construction materials. The extensive use of waste materials is very eco-friendly, and it helps to retrieve the same cultural value across time and space. We share common memories within seven different sites. Through the linkage of landscapes, a Military Landscapes Museum is created.
When the soldiers on the island were counted by hundred thousands, varied types of defensive tunnels constitute a repertoire of scales in space. Main tunnels for battles, defensive she-kou branch tunnel as well as transportation and defensive trenches are inscribed into the fabric of the everyday life of inhabitants. By accident, the defensive nature of interlocking courtyards also becomes a part of the defensive network.