Press Release
Check-in Hsinchu City and Design Expo by BIAS Architects and Associates Wins the Silver A' Design Award in Event and Happening Design
BIAS Architects and Associates acknowledged for event and happening design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Event and Happening Design category for Check-in Hsinchu City and Design Expo by BIAS Architects and Associates, designed for Hsinchu City Government & Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs. The award was conferred within the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Silver A' Design Award Explained
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Check-in Hsinchu City and Design Expo
The Design Expo is an annual design event promoted by the Central government of Taiwan. It aims to bring new energy to the local design sector. In 2020, Hsinchu hosted it, i.e., a city that holds a vibrant Science Park and more than 300 years of history. In this context, BIAS transformed the Expo into an urban event. Instead of triggering a single exhibition, this choice brought to temporarily re-imagine a line of places across the city. The aim was to let people experience the diversity of the city and showcase a new urban narrative, two things that finally highlighted design's social power.
About BIAS Architects and Associates
BIAS Architects & Associates was established by Han Ju Chen, Chen Jung Liu, and Alessandro Martinelli in 2013. BIAS is interested in public space and identity design where, by uniting spaces and programs, aims at fostering cultural awareness. It is constituted by professional curators, European and Taiwanese practicing architects.
Award Record
With this recognition, BIAS Architects and Associates is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. All of the awards belong to the 2020 - 2021 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Event and Happening Design Award
The A' Event Design Award is an international event design competition recognizing good event designs by leading event designers and organizers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to event designers, corporate event planners, wedding planners and festival organizers from all countries. Entries typically include trade fairs, award ceremonies, festivals, conferences, exhibitions and concerts. Awarded event designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/event
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/123053
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/123053
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!123053
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/303676
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.biasarchitects.com/2020-taiwandesignexpo
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Check-in Hsinchu City and Design Expo
- Function
- City and Design Expo
- Category
- Event and Happening Design
- Discipline
- Service Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray, Lavender, Dim Gray and Dark Olive Green
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Hsinchu City Government & Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs
The Recognition
- Laureate
- BIAS Architects and Associates
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2020 - 2021
- Design ID
- #123053
Credits
- Team
- BIAS Architects & Associates and Taiwan Design Research Institute & Grand Vision
- Image Credits
- Photographer Kris Kang, 2020; Photographer Jian-Lin Li, 2020; Photographer Yi-Hsien Lee, 2020; Photographer Pei-Cih Chen, 2020
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Taiwan Design Expo is an annual design event promoted by the central government of Taiwan. It aims to bring new energy to the design sector in relation to various fields of industry, society, and culture. In 2020, it was hosted by Hsinchu, a city that holds both a vibrant Science Park and more than 300 years of history. In this context, BIAS decided to transform the Expo into an urban event, a bold move that, instead of triggering a single exhibition, brought to re-imagine -although temporarily- a line of places across the city. The aim was to make people concretely experience the various aspects of the city's culture and trigger a change in their perspective towards the urban space.
- Inspiration
- The Expo program was developed in the context of an urban promotion campaign, and it was based on a socio-cultural investigation of the place. By researching Hsinchu city's background, BIAS found that a large portion of the local population moved in because of the flourishing Science Park. Unfortunately, this Park is socio-culturally segregated from the historical urban center. So, BIAS imagined a new narrative for the whole city, i.e., to reconsider the city itself as a 'material database' that registers both the old and the latest happenings.
- Research
- The project implied research on various aspects, as of the following. First, it was implemented research on the city of Hsinchu, including aspects of history, politics, planning, and expected developments. Then, it was implemented research on the key stakeholders involved in the active definition of urban identity. Also, research was implemented in terms of key actors that could contribute to design discussion and exercise socio-political influence. Finally, it was developed design research concerning the temporary revitalization of public space, and exhibition concepts tht could deliver the message of the Expo
- Challenge
- The hardest challenge of the project was the development of the narrative, due to the political implications of the project. Due to this, a large number of stakeholders have been involved and an ad-hoc managerial system had to be developed. In particular, a system of consultants that could participate in the creative process and have socio-political influence was created.
- Realization and Technology
- To implement the Expo at a city scale, besides redefining the notion of exhibition areas, BIAS curated a strategic set of interventions that could guide people across the city. A 'performance route' was organized, two plazas were made into playgrounds, and a series of iconic large-scale inflatable sculptures, nicknamed the 'Monsters of Hsinchu,' served as landmarks symbolizing the new identity of the city. A digital orientation system was also developed thanks to an ad-hoc smartphone app, that offered digital access to all the contents and their location across what has become the sort of a 2-km long virtual urban promenade.
- Operation and Interaction
- The Expo operated as a 2km-long line of events and temporary exhibition spaces, that delivered a new narrative for the city of Hsinchu, but also toured the citizens and the visitors across various areas of the city. The main aim of this narrative and 'guided tour,' was to combine the Taiwan Design Expo, i.e., an annual occasion for promoting the design sector in Taiwan, with a festival capable to 'reconnect' diverse aspects and areas of the city. This way, it was finally showcased how design can intervene in society and the 'software' of the urban realm.
- Project Duration and Location
- The Expo started on 1st November 1st, 2020, and finished on November 11th, in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- Specifications
- Total exhibition area: 410,000 sqm
- Keywords
- design expo, social design, public space, city, urban culture, urban identity
