Jointly with Japan Women's University, the Department of Architecture held the “2009 Tamsui Chuwei Housing Workshop” from August 31 to September 13. 46 TKU junior and senior Architecture students and 20 students from Japan Women's University took participated. The renowned female Japanese architects SHINOHARA Satoko and SUZUKI Maho also came to give lectures.

The workshop explored the housing problems in Chuwei area and their possible solutions. The 66 students were divided into 10 groups collecting residents’ ideas, and by using analogue modules, they redesigned houses according to local life styles.

Architecture Assistant Prof. Kuang-chein Bee said, “As students have different life background and experiences, they designed various excellent modules.” The module of TKU Architecture senior Fan-wei Chang’s group was a combination of shops and apartments. The 1st and 2nd floors were business areas while the 3rd and 4th floors were residences. There were also public areas between the floors. That way, the residents not only had accesses to markets but also enjoyed their privacy.

Japanese student FUKUDA Etsuko admired Taiwanese students’ working efficiency, saying, “I have really liked the atmosphere in designing the module with the Taiwanese partners. They have deeply devoted themselves to it.” But the TKU students exclaimed that the Japanese students’ abilities of analysis, induction and inference were greatly impressive. The President of the TKU Architecture Department Association Chia-hao Lin said, “Through this workshop, I have understood the way of thinking of the Japanese architecture majors, and will have different ideas in future architecture designs.” （∼Dean X. Wang ）