建築師賴伯威長年在國外工作，離開台灣後，才讓他注意到台灣的不一樣。

他觀察到古羅馬的都市裡面到處都是浴場，代表浴場是古羅馬人慾望的體現。在台灣，則是五步一小廟，十步一大廟，你生活周邊到處都看得到廟，大到建築跟建築之間的夾縫，或是高架橋、快速道的夾縫裡面，都有辦法塞得進一間廟，它們「無所不在、無神不拜、無孔不入、無奇不有」的方式，寄生於都市之中。廟，是台灣人慾望的體現。

那些寄生於都市之中的廟，到底有多少種？賴伯威和他的團隊Willipodia以七年紀錄了108種寄生之廟，從建築視角探查廟跟都市、自然結合的關係，並為廟作3D圖學紀錄及分類表。賴伯威對此有特別觀察，他認為，現象的本質並不重要，重要的是現象本身，就像《清明上河圖》的紀錄，使我們看見宋代汴梁的都市樣貌，《寄生之廟》記錄的意義，則會是台灣當代都市的生活樣貌。

Architect Po Wei LAI has worked overseas for many years. It took leaving Taiwan for him to realize what makes Taiwan so unique.

LAI observed how the baths scattered throughout ancient Rome reflected the desires of the ancient Romans. Upon returning to Taiwan, the architect noted the small temples on every corner and the even bigger temples just a few paces ahead. These temples surround us in our everyday lives. We are able to squeeze temples into the cracks and crevices between urban architecture, under freeway overpasses, or even between major expressways. These temples use ubiquitous, polytheistic, pervasive, and wondrous adaptation techniques to form parasitic relationships with the urban environment. They also embody the desires of the Taiwanese.

Just how many of these parasitic temples are there? Po Wei LAI and his team, Willipodia, spent seven years recording 108 types of parasitic temples. The team explored the relationship between the temple, the city, and the natural environment from an architectural perspective while simultaneously creating a 3D graphic record and analytic charts. LAI Po Wei especially notes that, “The nature of this phenomenon isn’t really important. What’s important is the phenomenon itself.” Much like how Up the River During Qingming is a record that gives us a sense of the urban environment in the Song capital of Bianliang, Parasitic Temples is significant in that the book records the lifestyles of the Taiwanese in the contemporary urban environments of Taiwan.