Taiwan architect Huang Sheng-yuan won first place and NT$1 million (US$33,100) for the Luodong Cultural Working House in Yilan County at the eighth Far Eastern Architectural Design Award April 19 in Taipei City.
Rosanna Hu and Lyndon Neri of Shanghai-based Neri and Hu Design and Research Office won the mainland China area award, also of NT$1 million, for The Waterhouse at South Bund in Shanghai.
“I treat architecture as a social enterprise,” said Huang, principal designer at Yilan-based Fieldoffice Architects. “I hope to create a home, rather than a workplace, for architectural professionals.”
The Luodong Cultural Working House has hardly any interior walls or doors, which architects from mainland China find very surprising, Huang said. He added that the large amount of empty space inside the building symbolizes Taiwan’s freedom and openness.
“The FEADA encourage cultural exchange across the Taiwan Strait,” Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin said at the ceremony. “They help the government and public get to know the best in architecture and boost the quality of Taipei’s architectural scene and planning.”
Far Eastern Group Chairman Douglas Hsu said the aim of the awards is to attract more attention to architecture, as architects and property developers are equally critical to social development.
Runners-up for Taiwan area was Kris Yao’s Nung Chan Monastery at Dharma Drum Mountain in Taipei City, and for mainland China area, Zhu Xiaofeng’s Huaxin Business Center in Shanghai. Both prizes were worth NT$500,000.
The awards panel was made up of judges from Taiwan, Japan, the U.S. and mainland China, who visited the 10 nominated buildings in Taiwan and Shanghai April 15-18.
A public parking tower in Wulai District, New Taipei City, won the award’s online poll, while the Nung Chan Monastery won on-site voting. (SDH)