Heather Clydesdale Awarded Fellowship by MOFA

The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) awarded a fellowship to Heather Clydesdale (Art and Art History) for her project “Building Public Character,” which focuses on buildings and environments designed by Taiwanese architects since the turn of the twenty-first century. Heather will investigate design processes, aesthetic principles, and how people activate sites as they move through and use them. She expects her findings will illuminate how Taiwan’s tangled cultural legacies, commitment to sustainability, and political system that promotes public engagement are foundational to the emergence of architecture that preserves local heritage, connects people to natural environments, and promotes civic engagement.

The MOFA Taiwan Fellowship is an internationally-competitive grant open to scholars of all disciplines conducting research on Taiwan, cross-strait relations, the Asia-Pacific region, and Sinology. The fellowship will support Heather’s travel to Asia and three months of research in Taiwan during the summer of 2025. Heather will be based in Taipei and hosted by Taipei National University’s Graduate Institute of Building and Planning but will traverse the island to visit sites, architectural firms, university programs, and public archives.