The Department of Architecture has won endless awards! Alumnus Ying-jun Xie was just awarded the Taipei City Cultural Award of NT$300,000 by the Department of Culture Affairs, Taipei City Government. He also won the 10th Outstanding Public Service and Contribution Award, while TKU Architecture Lecturer Xie-neng Zhuang got the 10th Planning Design Contribution Award by the R.O.C. Architecture Association. In addition, Associate Professor Sheng-yuan Huang and Lecturer Jia-kai Yang also won the 2008 Taiwan Construction Prize. The Department Chair Kwang-tyng Wu said, “The fact that faculty and alumni won prizes not only proves the excellent ability of the faculty but also shows faculty’s best examples for the students.”

Among the 27 groups of recommended candidates, Ying-jun Xie won the first prize with his work “Everlasting Construction.” For a long time, he had devoted himself in promoting urban green construction, green culture planning and development. He believed constructors could consider not only technology but also environment, social culture and economy. As a TKU alumnus, he encouraged students, “TKU has a lot of experiences in real construction projects. Leading students, some professors also took part in disaster rescues. Now society changes fast, far beyond the knowledge in books. Students should pay attention to the societal trend so that they could be able to design the really needed constructions.”

Xue-neng Zhuang’s representative works that won the 10th Planning Design Contribution Award were “Changhua Fuxing Granary” and “921 Earthquake Education Commemoration Area” designed with TKU alumnus Wen-jie Chiu. Xue-neng Zhuang said, “Architecture is always in the future tense. Any construction can last 30 or 40 years. You must foresee the situation of the future society.” He encouraged TKU students to lay a solid foundation in university and build up necessary strength and skills for the future.

Taiwan Architect Magazine offers the Taiwan Construction Prize annually. Among 14 competitors, Yuan-sheng Huang and Jia-kai Yang won the 2008 Taiwan Construction Prize with their works “The First Melody of Luodong New Tree Farm” and “Yuan Ze University Far East Youxiang Communication Building.” “The First Melody of Luodong New Tree Farm” successively created a new metropolis space. The judges awarded the first prize to it, for it was an urban planning design work with future foresight. “Yuan Ze University Far East Youxiang Communication Building” designed by Jia-kai Yang combined electro-optic science and technology with architectural design. It provided students with a place for interactive activities in their life and studies on campus. The judges recognized the explosive force of the design. Jia-kai Yang said, “I hope that students will see the hope for future architecture from this award.” ( ~Dean X. Wang )