Fernando Menis Awarded at Taipei International Design Awards 2016

In Taipei, the World Design Capital 2016, the Spanish architect won the Gold Award of Public Space Design for his CKK Jordanki, in Poland and the Jury’s Special Award for the Bürchen Public Square, in Switzerland

The Taipei City Government founded the Interna5onal Design Award to convey the quality image of Taipei design to the interna5onal community and to locate valuable designs with commercial possibili5es. As announced in its brief, Taipei believes in design as a way to
improve economy, the social fabric, environment and the cultural development of the city as well as to provide harmony, secure and convenient life to the ci5zens of the world. An annual call, this award is open worldwide to crea5ves, design professionals, design schools, and
individuals with a passion for design. In 2012, three new categories were added – industrial design, visual communica5on and public space design – showing the Taipei Interna5onal Awards’s ambi5on to grow global. Moreover, in 2016, Taipei is the World Design Capital.
On November 4, at the Awards ceremony, presided by the Major of Taipei, the Spanish architect, Fernando Menis, was revealed as the winner of the Gold Award of Public Space Design for the Congress and Mul5func5onal Concerts Hall CKK Jordanki, in Torun, Poland and
the winner of the Jury’s Special Award of Public Space Design for the Bürchen Public Square in Switzerland.
From Taiwan, Fernando Menis declared: “As a compe55on, the Taipei Interna5onal Design Awards allows creators, architects and designers around the world to learn from each other, progress, obtain a broader interna5onal perspec5ve, and further embody crea5vity and
dreams in their products with marketability and futurity, bringing the design industry in the world new atmosphere and prospects.” “Design is not just about seeking aesthe5cs in objects, it is about an aZtude of thinking,” said
Mayor of Taipei City, Ko Wen-je, who gave the Award to Menis. “To change Taiwan, we must start with the capital; to change the capital, we must change the culture; and to change the culture, we must start with design.” Mayor Ko added that implemen5ng design into urban
development requires collabora5on across different bureaus within government, as well as from ci5zens and professional designers, and stated that “our vision is to make Taipei a livable and sustainable city by 2050.”