•Publication Date：09/02/2014
•Source： Taiwan Today
Winners of the Far Eastern Architectural Young Talent Award were named Aug. 31 in Taipei City, with three of the five recipients female designers, according to organizer Far Eastern Memorial Foundation.
Cai Yun-ting, Chen Jia-yu and Shi Yi-zhen flew the flag for Taiwan’s women, with Huang Zi-rong and Zhong Bo-xian leading the way for men. All of the winning designs will be exhibited at Taipei Expo Park.
Douglas Hsu, chairman and CEO of Far Eastern Group—backer of the foundation—praised the winners for their cutting-edge creativity and said he hopes more young talents will study architecture and vie for top honors in the award. “We need all hands on deck to make sure Taiwan is afforded the beautiful skyline it deserves going forward.”
Top two place-getters Cai and Chen, from National Cheng Kung University and Shih Chien University, respectively, will represent Taiwan at next month’s Japan-based Shinjinsen Asian Architectural Rookie Award for Asian students.
According to Japanese architect Dan Norihiko, who suggested combining the finals of the young talent award with the Shinjinsen qualifiers, the winners have bright futures and could all work at some point in international architectural firms. “But I urge them to look closer to home for inspiration and focus on producing more designs truly representing Taiwan and Asia,” he said.
Echoing Norihiko’s remarks, David Tseng—dean of humanities and social sciences at National Chiao Tung University—said the strong showing of women in the awards demonstrates Taiwan is in sync with international trends of cultural creativity.
“From the 1990s, architecture departments worldwide turned themselves into meccas of creativity and design, sweeping away engineering-centered mindsets. As a result, both sexes are securing equal representation and accolades in the field.”
According to Tseng, Cai’s “Round-up”—a building housing the NCKU’s Architecture Department—utilizes a horizontal spiral model. She also achieved wonders in combining the panoramic spectrum of city life with the subtle spatial needs of students.”
On the other hand, Chen’s “Encircle” successfully incorporated the Baisha BayVisitor Center’s need for an enclosed space leading onto the nearby coastline and village. “The tilted roof-slabs open up the structure, allowing in natural light and sea breezes,” he said.
Inaugurated this year, the young talent award is open to students in the first three years of architecture degrees at Taiwan universities. It follows in the footsteps of the Far Eastern Architectural Design Award modeled after U.S.-based Pritzker Prize recognizing top professional American architects.
The Shinjinsen, originally held every October at the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka, was opened in 2012 to the rest of Asia. This year marks the first time Taiwan has been invited to participate in the event. Other nations taking part are Cambodia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and mainland China.
