On September 20, Taiwanese architect Hsieh Ying-Chun delivered a lecture at the Department of Architecture on the topic “Action or Actionless.”
First gaining international notice for his reconstruction project for a tribal community following the devastating 1999 earthquake in Taiwan, Mr. Hsieh was in 2011 awarded the Curry Stone Design Prize, one of the design field’s highest honors for humanitarian work, in recognition of his continued efforts to help people build or rebuild their own homes and communities in remote areas and natural disaster zones.
In his talk, Mr. Hsieh related how he and his team constructed more than 3,000 homes for 200 communities and aboriginal tribes in post-disaster areas of East Asia. The lecture highlighted the ways in which the architect and his colleagues have engaged with local societies and transformed their socioeconomic conditions through architecture.