Tainan, Taiwan, November 19th, 2010

Students from Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, have received top three prizes and four excellence awards of New Talent Award of the 2010 National Golden Award for Architecture, the most authoritative national award that every architect regards as the highest honor, thus becoming the biggest winner.

Among the five winners of the New Talent Award and the sixteen recipients of the excellence awards of the New Talent Award, students from NCKU Department of Architecture have won top three prizes and four excellence awards.

“The students have applied innovative thinking as creative elements from the perspectives of ecology, culture, science and technology, history and industry to generate unlimited possibilities of architectural design, fully reflecting the connotation of humanistic accomplishments, international perspectives and social caring,” said Director George Yao of NCKU Department of Architecture.

Three students from Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University, including Shu-Chen Fu, supervised by Associate Prof. Tay-Sheng Jeng, Yuan-Ng Maw, supervised by Prof. Ming-Hung Wang, and Yu-Chen Chao, supervised by Assistant Prof. Bo-Nien Chen, have won the top three prizes of New Talent Award with the works of Green Seeding: A Design Strategy for Micro Biological Cycles, Spatial Writing by Malay Building Language and Water Channel as A Media Life of Living Community.

Green Seeding: A Design Strategy for Micro Biological Cycles designed by student Shu-Chen Fu adopts the concept of Green Seeding to create Eco-Blocks which initiates profound ecological effects by connecting small block areas and it also adopts the principle of changing the holistic urban formation and revitalizing green life.

Green Seeding refers to elements that are embedded the green intelligent life network in ecological system and it indicates a seeding process, which encourages urban inhabitants to involve in sustainable actions, and makes them aware of the environmental changes.

As seeds grow, fruit, and spread, more inhabitants are converted to green life. Green Seeding is inserted in ecological areas by the strategy of “small-medium-large” and “point-line-area” progress. Finally, the synthesis of ecology and economy that ushers in mutual benefits is reasonable.

By analysis and observation of current urban phenomenon, a recycle strategy that changes the current system is proposed. Inspired by ecology, the new design changes the position of human in the hierarchy of urban ecology. Human are converted from consumers to producers.

Green Seeds are presented in dimensions of “point, line, and area” which refers to house, street, and open space. The embedded green seed bags, green seed lights, and system of motion transformed energy sustain the recycling of urban ecology. It is believed that the recycle of waste material, people, and energy will enhance the value of humanity, sociology and economy.

Three dimensions of green design practice includes small (building units), medium (open space like park), and large (street and city). Vision of Green City is built on these three scales to make city residents more aware of their influences on urban recycling system.

In general, the design aims to build a micro-ecological recycling system, reconsider the design strategy of recycling process, and propose a sustainable scheme for future city.

The Spatial Writing by Malay Building Language designed by student Yuan-Ng Maw focuses on a study of traditional Malay houses and the application of the study in design and planning.

The building language of Malay house is made up by 5 unique “characters” in the structure as reflected in the truss form; and ways of spatial layout as found in house extension and house grouping.

The language has been systematically explored in deform exercise, knowing the building language by doing some deformation under the rule of proportion and parameters control, new type design, using a new idea as a mutation factor that is folding the volume of Malay spaces to create new type, house clusters, exploring different combinations to create meaningful spatial experiences as new dwelling opportunity for Malay community, and settlement planning, using the “patch” idea to make a new settlement.

The settlement site is located at countryside of Kulai, Malaysia, between a natural woodland and over-developing area. The “patch” idea is precisely suitable to balance the chosen environment.

Overall, the design exercises the concept of typological design and patch-making idea, which bring the new eyeshot and attempt to Malay tradition. The inherent of Malay house do not vanish, and only the external appearances witness changes. Learning from the tradition, design can achieve innovations.

The Water Channel as A Media Life of Living Community designed by student Yu-Chen Chao chooses Mino, a water township in Southern Taiwan, as its design target through the observations of urban city and artificial waterways in villages, attempting to make proposals related to the lives of local people.

The winners of the New Talent Award of the National Golden Award for Architecture will each receive a prize of NT$15,000 and a medal and the recipients of the excellence awards of the New Talent Award will each receive a prize of NT$8,000 and a medal.

The awarding ceremony was held on October 20th, 2010, in Civil Service Development Institute.