Buenos Aires / Argentina

NEXT-GENE
Ao-Di Grand Land Architecture International Project

20 architects from various countries of the world are meeting in Taiwan. The objective is to design 20 houses on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The opportunity is that of exploring the possibility for a well-balanced coexistence of man-made and natural environment.

Among the invited architects are GRAFT, Yung Ho Chang, IaN+, Kengo Kuma, MVRDV, and Kris Yao. Among the advisors who contributed to the definition of the program are Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, and Toyo Ito.

Taiwan proves a very sensitive approach to urban development, one that is especially aware of the importance of sustainability and of a profound respect for nature.

Coordinator for the project, titled NEXT-GENE, is Yu-Tung Liu, who has been working for several years on strengthening the interaction between Eastern and European architectural cultures.

Taiwan becomes the meeting point for 10 Taiwanese architects and 10 architects selected internationally. They work together on a common project, titled NEXT-GENE. The objective is to realize a series of qualified residences facing the astounding landscape of the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area, about 50 minutes away from Taipei. The masterplan provides an intimate and immediate relationship with the open spaces. At the same time is offers the possibility for a direct comparison among different approaches to architectural research.

The 10 international architects participating in NEXT-GENE are: Yung Ho Chang (China/USA), Julien De Smedt (Denmark), GRAFT (Germany), Akihisa Hirata (Japan), IaN+ (Italy), Kengo Kuma (Japan), Fernando Menis (Spain), Toshiko Mori (Japan/USA), MVRDV (The Netherlands), Hailim Suh (Korea). The Taiwanese architects are: Shu-Chang Kung, David Chun-Tei Tseng, Kris Yao, Jay Wen-Chieh Chiu, Kyle Chia-kai Yang, Hsueh-Yi Chien, Irving Hung-Hui Huang, Ray Chen, Sheng-Yuan Huang, Yu-Tung Liu. The project developer is Tai-Nien Lu (President of Genuine Development Asset Management Co. Ltd.), the coordinator is Yu-Tung Liu (Professor at the Graduate Institute of Architecture of National Chiao Tung University).

Yu-Tung Liu studied at Harvard and at the MIT in Boston, and is quite renowned in the international architectural milieu. He is the founding professor of the Graduate Institute of Architecture at National Chiao Tung University and established the distinguished FEIDAD (Far East International Digital Architectural Design) Award in architecture. He focused his activity on exploring the possibility of strengthening the interaction between Eastern and European architectural cultures. The advisors for the project are famous personalities in the field of architecture and communication: Tadao Ando, Marco Brizzi (iMage), Lily Choi (Archiworld), Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Nobuyuki Yoshida (A+U), Alicia Yeste (La Vanguardia).

Over the next few months Taiwan will be the meeting point for different design cultures: Western and Eastern, Mediterranean and trans-oceanic. The Northeast Coast National Scenic Area will become, thanks to NEXT-GENE, an open air laboratory where new residential scenarios will be realized. Timing is tight for the completion of the project. The architects have all completed their site visits. Construction will start in July 2008 and the houses will all be complete by December 2009.