Local architect Sun Te-hung has captured first prize in the 2012 Taiwan Architecture Awards with his expansion project for Zhaiming Temple in Daxi Township, Taoyuan County, event organizer Taiwan Architect Magazine said Nov. 5.
“Contemporary religious architecture tends to favor grand effects, but Master Sheng Yen, temple abbot when the project started, insisted that we ‘build a little less, and a little lower,’” Sun said. “Although he was in poor health at the time, he took part in many of our design meetings.”
The temple is a third-class national historic site built in the Qing dynasty (1683-1911) between the 1820s and 1850s, according to Huang Ching-ling, jury convener for the awards and architecture professor at Taoyuan’s Chung Yuan Christian University.
“Sun employed subtractive design, using simple, low-key methods to expand the halls for dining, sleeping and meditation. Using corridors and fair-faced concrete, he created a tranquil space that harmoniously incorporates the old and new buildings, echoing the trend toward less-is-more aesthetics and environmental protection.”
Projects were judged on respect for site topography, sustainability, humanitarian design, materials and professional execution, Huang added.
Sun was also the winner of the 2002 Taiwan Architecture Prize with his design for the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology in New Taipei City’s Bali District, Taiwan Architect Magazine said.
Other projects recognized for their excellence this year were the campus reconstruction at Matsu Senior High School, I-Lan Plant of Medical Devices, Namasia Ming Chuan Elementary School, National Museum of Taiwan History, Da Dong Art Center, Fu-Guei Sanyi Arts and Culture, and Liudui Hakka Cultural Park, the magazine added. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw