Two Asia University students from the Department of Interior Design won gold medals in 2021 DNA Paris Design Awards announced on June 21. Yu-hsiang Lin won a gold medal in the category of “Renovation” with his work, “Zen Art Gallery,” and Yung-jui Liang won another gold medal in the category of “Retail” with his work, “RUNI Flower.” Hong Ren Wang, also from the Department of Interior Design received an “Honorary Mention” with his work, “Mobile City” in the category of “Retail.”
Yu-hsiang Lin said that his idea of “Zen Art Gallery” came from an architecture tour to Japan during his junior year. He was inspired by the Japanese dry landscape garden, “Karesansui,” in terms of its simplicity and zen thinking. He first extracted some cultural elements and symbols from “Karesansui,” and then recomposed them into a new aesthetic space where traditional materials such as sand, wood and rocks were rearranged in a contemporary style. In contrast to the simplicity and serenity of “Karesansui,” Lin’s new creation featured an eccentric and exaggerated presentation to bring the audience to the awareness of the conflicting space in real life and therefore challenged their fixed spatial conceptions.
Yung-jui Liang said that he started his project as an intern working in a flower shop when he was a junior. “RUNI Flower” is a design in which he put the idea of “less is more” into practice in a commercial space. The simple, clean spatial design, resembling a blank canvas, can present various flowers with fresh and lively colors. He also ventured to renovate some traditional old houses into modern flower shops which highlighted simple, clean and warm spaces for customers.
The original idea of Hong Ren Wang’s “Mobile City” came from his visit to Starbucks Taikoo Shanghai when he was a junior. The first-hand experience in making a pull over coffee gave him some inspiration to bring the flow of water and the formation of bubbles into his creative design of a special coffee shop called “Mobile City.” By providing a novel space for all sorts of meetings and with a special arrangement of seats, the shop aims to become a hub of information exchange and a comfortable place for people to meet in a city.
Professor Shih-Yuan Liu explained that students in the department of Interior Design were encouraged to take part in internship activities and international competitions in the hope that they could bridge the gap between theory and practice, and at the same time they could catch up with the current development of the interior design by preparing for the international competition.
Professor Yuan-Rong Li, Dean of the College of Creative Design, also mentioned that the 2021 DNA Paris Design Awards are divided into five categories, namely architecture, interior design, landscape, product and graphic. This globally announced Awards has attracted designers from all over the world to compete for the improvement of human society and environment. It was a great honor that our students achieved recognition in this competition. Dean Li also stated that for the past five consecutive years, AU has been awarded by Ministry of Education for its outstanding performance in various international design competitions such as Red Dot and IF. Asia University is an excellent place to nurture talented students in the field of creative design with its practical curricula, experienced professors and full support from the university.
