Elementary and secondary schools across Taiwan are reimagining campus spaces and bolstering aesthetic education for the next generation of students with the help of the Ministry of Education’s Design Movement on Campus project.
Implemented by the state-supported Taiwan Design Research Institute, the initiative has matched 59 schools with designers since its launch in 2019. It also provides financial support to DMC projects, with each currently entitled to a grant of NT$1.6 million (US$58,100).
New features are added to the outdoor stage, including a climbing wall. (Courtesy of Wooyo)
One sterling example of such cooperation is the remaking of the outdoor stage at Shan Feng Waldorf School in southern Taiwan’s Yunlin County. The new design by Wooyo, a Taipei-based studio, is acclaimed for incorporating an abstract image of the crested serpent eagle, which is commonly seen in the area.
According to Wooyo’s creative director Leon Chang, the studio liberated the stage by turning it into a giant bird in flight—a symbol of freedom—and added features like a climbing wall and a pair of ramps for devotees of monocycling, which is the school’s most popular sport.
Equally impressive is the DMC project that transformed a one-story building at the center of Feng Dong Junior High School in central Taiwan’s Taichung City. Renamed Feng Dong Assembly Hall after renovation, the former practice venue of the school’s wrestling team won the 2021 Taiwan Interior Design Jury Award.
The remade building at the center of Feng Dong Junior High School in central Taiwan’s Taichung City features biophilic design elements. (Courtesy of MisoSoupDesign)
The stunning new activity space features biophilic design elements intended to breathe new life into the hall, said Daisuke Nagatomo, co-founder of MisoSoupDesign. The Taipei-based studio was commissioned to work on the Feng Dong case.
Biophilic design, a Latin-derived phrase meaning “a love of nature,” refers to the global trend for architects to incorporate natural elements into buildings to boost the health and well-being of occupants. Floor-to-ceiling windows framing an old tree standing by the hall, as well as a circular platform for small-scale performances that half extends out of the building, exemplify the style.
DMC projects like those at Shan Feng Waldorf and Feng Dong are setting model examples of how to boost aesthetic literacy among students for school authorities all over the country, said Emil Chao, chair of the Taipei-based Chinese Society of Interior Designers. The MOE program is proof positive of design’s potential to enhance quality of life while upgrading Taiwan’s design pedigree on the world stage, he added. (E) (By Oscar Chung)
The light and open renovated building at Feng Dong is now the pride of the school. (Courtesy of MisoSoupDesign)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw
(This article is adapted from “Growth Spaces” in the March/April 2022 issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)