The German Red Dot Design Awards has recently announced the latest winners list, with the Hualien Pavilion at Creative Expo Taiwan 2021, curated by Assistant Professor Ling-Li Tseng of the NYCU Graduate Institute of Architecture, winning the Red Dot Design Award Best of the Best for its spiritual immersive experience.
In the field survey by her co-creative team from the Graduate Institute of Architecture, Tseng found an artificial landscape shaped by the leftover materials of stone factories across Hualien City as well as the power of nature in the mountains and seas. Accordingly, the team stacked thousands of discarded marble slabs layer by layer to build a landscape of plates that symbolizes the power of the earth, which was accompanied by a multi-channel environmental sound field design to express the multiple aspects of gentleness and ferocity in Hualien. The interdisciplinary team of architecture, visions, music, materials, construction, and engineering demonstrated its creative professionalism and integrated capacity of humanities, art, and engineering through strong executions and teamwork.
Professor Shu-Chang Kung of the NYCU Graduate Institute of Architecture, who has worked as an international judge for the Red Dot Design Awards for years, expressed that competition was fierce at the 2021 Red Dot Design Awards, which was assessed by a jury of 24 experts from different countries. In the Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design, the Hualien Pavilion won the Best of the Best, which is an annual award granted to only the best work in each category. The commendable win by the local pavilion earned Hualien a widespread international praise and enabled more people to understand the spirits deep within the region.
In addition to science, technology, computer and electrical engineering, and biomedicine, NYCU has endeavored to cultivate technological arts and innovative design talents for nearly 20 years; recently, NYCU has actively developed teaching and applications in design, art, and innovation. the Design and Innovative Technology Program, which was established in 2015, accepts students of all departmental backgrounds, and focuses on cultivating interdisciplinary and integrated talents in designs, has become a hot spot for design innovation talent cultivation in NYCU. Tseng, who also serves as a core professor in the program, has worked in architectural designs in the United Kingdom for many years. After she returned to Taiwan for teaching, she has actively participated in campus planning, public art creation, and social services as a designer and guided students in borderless design research, development, and creation.
The award won by the NYCU team is a proof that the higher education system in Taiwan has become friendlier to creative teachers. The virtuous cycle is expected to further encourage creators with practical experience and international perspectives to devote themselves in higher education.
Chinese version: https://www.nycu.edu.tw/news/2371/