NYCU GIA Student to Represent Taiwan at AYDA Awards Global Finals

(中央社訊息服務20251231 15:51:22)A graduate student from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University’s Graduate Institute of Architecture (NYCU GIA), Ping-Kuan Chen, has earned the Gold Award at the AYDA Awards — one of Asia’s most influential international design competitions for emerging designers. With this honor, Chen will represent Taiwan in 2026 at the global finals, competing against top young designers from 20 cities worldwide for the competition’s highest distinction, the Platinum Award.

Organized by Nippon Paint, the AYDA Awards aim to inspire innovation and social awareness among students in architecture, interior design, and spatial design programs across Asia. Each year, the competition centers on a unifying theme, encouraging participants to respond to cultural, environmental, and human-centered challenges through design, while providing opportunities to connect with the global design community and pursue international learning pathways.

Under the 2025 theme “CONVERGE: Crafting Cultural Legacies,” Chen’s project, “Re-Constructing Dwelling — A Cyclical Building System for the Island of Faith,” draws on in-depth observations of local culture and environmental conditions in Penghu, an island region of Taiwan.

The project addresses the gradual decline of traditional coral-stone construction techniques, a culturally significant craft once deeply tied to community identity and everyday life. Through a site-sensitive architectural strategy that re-integrates local materials and emphasizes harmony between people and their environment, Chen proposes a regenerative spatial system that preserves cultural memory while enabling sustainable adaptation.

The jury commended the work for its conceptual depth, strategic coherence, and strong sensitivity to place, awarding it the Taiwan Gold Award and advancing it to the 2026 international competition.

According to the organizers, the AYDA Awards are more than a design competition — they serve as a platform for collaboration, dialogue, and global exposure. Taiwan’s Gold Award winner will not only take part in the 2026 Platinum Award global finals held overseas, but finalists who excel at the international stage may also have the opportunity to join the three-week “Design Discovery” summer program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD), gaining world-class training and academic enrichment.

NYCU GIA emphasizes a people-centered approach to design education, encouraging students to integrate social inquiry, cross-disciplinary thinking, and real-world engagement into their creative practice. Chen’s achievement reflects this educational philosophy and underscores the growing global visibility of Taiwan’s next-generation design talent.

This recognition demonstrates not only the creativity and professional strength of NYCU students but also the meaningful role that design can play in sustaining culture and community.