由王昭藩建築師設計執行的高雄市文化中心（1981年啟用，舊名高雄市立中正文化中心），將台灣戰後的粗獷主義發展帶出了另一條與國族主義回應的脈絡。相較丹下健三於1960年代初期試圖使用鋼筋混凝土，轉衍日本傳統木構造的再現方式——作為一種東亞脈絡下的現代主義回應，王昭藩以現代主義轉化中國傳統建築語彙與形式的意圖，可從文化中心的量體構成、細部設計與材料運用中清楚地被閱讀。

建築量體以宮殿三段式分割構成；屋頂部分捨去「大帽子」斜屋頂樣式，改採平屋頂，但仍以深出簷配合飛升斜樑作為表徵。屋身的鋼筋混凝土樑柱則仿以木構造的榫頭，並以模矩為基礎進行比例分割與縮放，而外廊柱列則以西方古典秩序做間距縮放的安排。至於建築體的基座部分，有別於傳統宮殿式的厚實，抬高的基台不僅凝塑儀典式的空間氛圍，更採取了中國南方杆欄式建築的輕巧與機能性來回應南台灣炙熱的氣候。對於木構語彙在細部上的轉化運用，不僅在穿廊與結構構體上的呈現，同時透過簡化後的斗拱與櫞條意象、方格狀窗櫺，與方形斬石子的台基護欄作為轉化傳統欄杆的造型形式，帶出多層次且多重比例樣式的鋪陳展演。

材料上的表現，主以斬石子取代顯露原始混凝土材質，作為主要構造的完成面，雖少了原始材料粗糙面質的特徵姿態，但透過比例縮放（例如迴廊仿木卡榫與主階梯扶手）與強烈的重複性韻律（例如簷下的飛升斜樑）來呈現木構語彙，亦形成另一股粗獷主義在地的詩意表現。此般材料與構造形式轉化下的互動潛力，雖然起於當時台灣因清水混凝土技術尚未成熟，轉以洗石子和斬石子等表面裝修作為替代品，來完成對於清水混凝土的想望狀態，卻也擴增了建築形式與當時社會文化脈絡間的互譯想像，成為另一場以東亞地域發聲的現代主義高呼。（文／黃少妤）

Kaohsiung Cultural Center (opened in 1981, formerly Kaohsiung Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center) was designed by architect Chao-Fan Wang, whose response to nationalism lead to another trajectory in Taiwan's post-war brutalism development. In contrast with Tange Kenzo's use of reinforced concrete in the early 1960s to represent Japanese traditional wood constructions, Wang's intent was to transform the language of traditional Chinese architecture through modernism. This can be clearly read through the volumetric composition, detail design and the material used for the cultural center.

The massing consists of three basic elements of the traditional Chinese palace architecture; the usual pitched roof motif is replaced with a flat one but the symbolic deep eaves and soaring beams remain. The reinforced concrete columns and beams in the main structure imitate the tenons of wood structures; basic modules are proportionately divided, contracted and expanded; and the spacing adjustment of the veranda colonnade follows the Western classical order. As for the podium, an elevated platform in lieu of the hefty podium in a traditional palace exudes a ritualistic spatial aura, while the same airiness and functionalism found in a southern Chinese stilt house addresses the scorching climate of southern Taiwan. Translation of the vocabulary of wood construction into is evident in the details beginning with the structure and semi-open "avenue". Furthermore, a performative discourse with multifarious layers, proportions and motifs unfolds through the simplified representation of the ‘dogong’ and rafters, the grid-pattern window lattice. The rectilinear hewn-concrete railings around the podium are transformed from traditional balustrade design.

Stone-like hewn concrete is the chosen finish for the main structure instead of exposed concrete. Although the characteristic gesture born in the rough texture of the original material is missing, the vocabulary of wood constructions is expressed through the play of proportion (e.g. pseudo-wooden mortise-and-tenon detailing of the avenue and the railing of the main staircase) and intense and repetitive rhythms (e.g. soaring beams below the eaves)--a poetic portrayal of localized brutalism. The interactive potential inherent in this translation of materials and structural forms was the result of Taiwan's immature concrete craft at the time. Exposed aggregate and stone-like hewn concrete finishes were elected as an alternative to cast-in-place concrete. Nevertheless, the project has turned into another summoning of modernism with an Eastern regional style. It broadened the translation between architectural formalism and the sociocultural context of the times. (by Shao-Yu Huang）