The library building in Youth Park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) is a small, unobtrusive structure, half-hidden by spreading green trees. Painted white and bare of decorations it hardly catches the eye of the casual passerby.
However, this modest, two-story building, constructed in 2012, on average attracts 100 visitors per day year-round. Most visitors are seeking ideas for green building and energy conservation, according to the designers, Wei Jen-cheng (韋仁正) and his wife, Hu Hsiang-ling (胡湘玲).
The building is a showpiece for the couple, who have been working for more than 20 years to promote the concept of sustainable building in Taiwan, and it is about to become a classroom to provide students with a practical education in green architecture.
“Every graduate of our school will have the ability to build a house from scratch,” said Wei, who is to be the principal of HAND Architecture and Building School when it opens next month.
He said the three-year curriculum would include hands-on construction work and the study of architectural principles, and would end with a certificate of completion in experimental education at the senior-high-school level.
He said that when he and his wife bought a historic house in Germany in 2001, the residents of the community pitched in to help with the restoration and maintenance of the building, which dates to 1843.
Drawing on their experiences in Germany, Wei and Hu have designed and helped to construct several sustainable buildings around the world, including a shelter for displaced victims of the 1999 Jiji Earthquake in central Taiwan.
On that project, about 300 volunteers joined the effort, taking up the challenge of trying to improve their own lives by working together, sharing ideas and solving problems, all at the community level, the couple said.
That is the kind of spirit Wei and Hu are hoping to foster at the school, which has been established in line with government regulations.
“Our core objective is to nurture the spirit of artisans and help students develop a passion for and dedication to their work,” Wei said.
So far, about 30 students have applied for admission to the school, which Wei sees as a satisfactory number, as regulations limit the number of students at such three-year experimental educational institutions to 125.
He said the long-term goal was to promote sustainable building through a curriculum that focuses on the innovative use of energy and environmentally friendly construction methods.
The 440m2 building in Youth Park is 80 percent more energy efficient than the average residential unit in Taiwan, Wei said.
It has 182 rooftop solar panels, which produce 56,000 kilowatts of electricity per year, slightly more than its annual energy consumption of 55,000 kilowatts, he said.
As Wei and Hu move into the education field, their motivation to bring about change in Taiwan is rooted in their conviction that true success and gains are bound up in the work of one’s hands.
“The word ‘hand’ in Mandarin sounds similar to ‘sweat and gain,’ and that is precisely the philosophy we are promoting,” Wei said.
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