The final result of Taipower's international design competition, which was conducted to incorporate arts and aesthetics into the new site of Hsinta Power Plant, has been released! In order to develop clean energy, Hsinta Power Plant shall promote the upgrading and reconstruction of its natural gas-fired generators. Taipower for the first time opened up opportunity for international design competition in October 2017, through which 70 works from 16 countries were received. After two stages of selection, the final result was determined today (20180427), in which the Morphosis Architects team from US was placed first in competition and won the first prize of NT$ 4 million!
The press conference for the release of the final result of Taipower's design competition for Hsinta Power Plant was held in Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and presided by Taipower Chairman Yang Wei-fu to announce the competition winners today (20180427). Taipower stated that the design competition pivoted on ecology in hope that the most suitable design proposal for the new power plant could be found through this competition to introduce an innovative view on the aesthetics of power plant constructions. Five teams were nominated on January 26th this year and they were placed in the second stage selection conducted from April 26th to 27th, where they were required to propose detailed graphics, models and animations of their own design. Morphosis team won the first prize with its design which linked up the power plant, local industries and community residents to fully demonstrate Taipower's social responsibility.
Taipower pointed out that the first prize winner Morphosis team was also a winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize- which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. The design proposed by Morphosis team integrated local industries with ecological landscapes and linked up green energy, ecology and economy & education with a view that the natural ecosystem can be preserved while promoting energy and economic development. It also provided the public with access to the power plant's multifunctional exhibition center and lookouts, by which people can experience the beauty of architecture and ecological diversity.
The convener of the design competition appraisal board -Professor Marcos Cruz of University College London, UCL, The Bartlett School of Architecture said that works of other winners also strived to integrate the power plant with ecological environment, among which Leers Weinzapfel Associates from US won the second prize of NT$ 2 million, and the team from National Sun Yat-sen University Department of Marine Environment and Engineering won the third prize of NT$ 1 million. The second prize winner's design adopted the concept of fish jumping out of the water, in which the generators in the power plant were perfectly transformed into the image of ships, and spaces for rest and recreation were planned around the power plant to connect the nature and the artificial facilities and also to create habitats for local animals and plants. The third prize winner's design originated from abundant ecological surveys in which geomorphology was applied to create harmonious landscapes by positioning the chimneys of the power plant and generators facilities together to provide the maximum space for the surrounding ecosystems. In addition, the shape of the architecture was designed according to seasonal winds to decrease the impact on ecosystems.
