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2020 ASIAN DESIGN AWARD

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The Tiniest Cottage design-build project by the University of Cincinnati and Beijing Jiaotong University won second place in the “Ecological Healthy and Sustainable Design” section at the 2020 ASIAN DESIGN AWARD

  • UC Students: Lauren Figley, Jordan Micham, Pat McQuillen, Vu Tran, Jeremy Swafford, Tess Ryan.
  • BJTU students: Zhuo Chen, Peida Zhuang, Shurui Li, Zhixuan Li, Yingjie Liu, Zijia Wang, Yuanjia Luo, Wenjun Lin, Yanqi Yi
  • Faculty supervisor:  Whitney Hamaker, Ming Tang (UC); Yingdong Hu, Yunan Zhang, Yongquan Chen (BJTU)

2020 ADA Award Theme: Towards the social design

Social design is the design that is mindful of the designer’s role and responsibility in society, and of the use of the design process to bring about social change. Social design is also a critical discipline that challenges the pure market-orienteers of conventional design practice and attempts to see past this into a more inclusive conception of design, in which user groups who are marginalized are also given priority.

 

Rural Public Restrooms Design + Build, China

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A group of UC DAAP students, led by Whitney Hamaker and Ming Tang, participated in the  “Yuzhang Construction*” workshop to design and build two public restrooms at the Pengyuan village, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province of China in summer 2020. This workshop is a collaboration with Nanchang University (NCU),  Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), and cooperates with the local village to carry out the 2020 public facilities construction. Due to the COVID-19, all design was completed through virtual collaborations. The first designed restroom is under construction, started in September 2020.

Project location: Pengyuan village, Yifeng County, Jiangxi Province, China

Project scope: design and construction of two rural ecological restrooms

Design activity: June-August, 2020

Construction: 09.2020- 12.2020

  • Faculty advisors: Fen Xiao, Qong Wu ( NCU), Yingdong Hu (BJTU), Whitney Hamaker, Ming Tang (UC)
  • UC Students: Sabrina Ramsay, Alexandra Steigerwald, An Le, Pwint (Audrey) Wati Oo, Nathaniel Liesch
  • NCU students: Mingxuan Wu, Ding Wang, Xiaohu Cheng, Meile Gui, Xianhao Xie, Hao Xiao, Jiayi Wang, Jiaoao Li, Mo Jia, Zheng Li, Yijia Wang
  • BJTU student: Cilu Luo, Zhu Cheng, Lurui Lue, Jiayi Xu, Xiangyu Zhou, Yudang Wang

The project won the First Place in the 2021 Asian Design Award. Sustainable Design category. 

Picture Taken by Fen XIao, NCU.  Photography Credits Go To Fen Xiao, NCU.

* “Yuzhang Construction” workshop was founded in 2018, initiated by the School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Nanchang University. Based on the concept of “innovation and construction,” the workshop works through the public welfare design and construction of social projects to serve the community and carry out a practical model of teaching. Through the construction activities of the mill building construction in Xikeng village in 2018, and the rice bridge building in Tianqiao village in 2019, students and faculties walked into the countryside to understand the rural, activate the countryside with design, and to help the local rural revitalization and sustainable development.

 

The project was also exhibited in 2021 DAAPcares and won the 2021 DAAPcares Sustainability award.

project in Aircraft Interior Expo and Crystal Cabin Award

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Ming Tang, Blake Lane presented Boeing On-board project, the finalist of 2018 Crystal Cabin Award on 04.11 at Hamburg, Germany on behalf of UC-Live-well-Boeing team.

The Crystal Cabin Award is the only international award for excellence in aircraft interior innovation, donated by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and released by the Crystal Cabin Award Association. This unique honor for outstanding cabin products and concepts was presented for the first time ever on April 17th, 2007 during the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. The Crystal Cabin Award’s main intention is to initiate a significant improvement in passenger comfort.

The award is designed to motivate companies and research facilities to develop new products and modern designs for aircraft cabin interiors. The development, manufacture and marketing of the innovative products or services must offer essential benefits in terms of usefulness to a potential customer, both to the final consumer as well as to the parts manufacturers.

our project is exhibited at the Crystal Cabin Award at the Aircraft Interior Expo at the Hamburg Messe, Germany 04. 10-12.

More information on the Boeing On-board project is available at CCA award social media release, and the article of UC Magazine.

Earth Award 2009

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I was honored to be selected as a finalist for the 2009 Earth Awards in New York, where I had the opportunity to present my project, Folded Bamboo + Paper House, and participate in the awards gala at the Four Seasons.

The Earth Awards brought together a diverse group of designers and innovators exploring ideas for a more sustainable future. It was especially meaningful to be part of a cohort invited to share work with leaders across design, engineering, and environmental fields, and to be interviewed during the event.

The selection committee and jury included an exceptional group of thinkers and practitioners—from architecture and design to science and policy—which made the experience both humbling and inspiring. I was particularly impressed by the breadth of perspectives represented.

Congratulations to Neri Oxman, whose project was named the winner that year.

Looking back, the experience was less about recognition and more about the exchange of ideas—an early moment that reinforced my interest in design experimentation that continues to shape my work today.

NEW YORK – JANUARY 12: TV Personality Charlie Rose and Ming Tang speak at the Earth Awards Gala at the Four Seasons Restaurant on January 12, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Earth Awards)

A prestigious and eclectic panel served on the 2009 Selection Committee, including: Paola Antonelli, Adam Bly, David Buckland, Antonio de la Rua, David de Rothschild, Nicky Gavron, Scott Hahn, Peter Head, Graham Hill, Dr. Dan Kammen, Yang Lan, Thom Mayne, Michael McDonough, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Barry Nalebuff, Sergio Palleroni, John Picard, Werner Sobek, Terry Tamminen, Suzanne Trocmé, Dilys Williams, and Dr. Kenneth Yeang.

Folded Bamboo House also won the First Place of Self-Sufficient Housing Competition. 

Cites with Soul

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The first place, Cities with Soul – The Urban Design Competition, British Council, U.K. 1998

This “Baita Temple neighborhood design” project was developed during my architecture graduate studies at Tsinghua University in 1998, in collaboration with a talented team of fellow students, including Li Fu, Fu Xin, Yali Song, Christoph, and others, under the guidance of Professors Zhang Jie and Wang Lifang.

We were deeply honored to receive this recognition through a program associated with the British Council, and to have the opportunity to engage with international exchanges in the UK.

Looking back, this project marked an early exploration across both architectural and urban design scales, with a focus on sustainability and cultural preservation—an experience that has continued to inform my work ever since.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair presented the First Prize to Ming Tang, Beijing, China, 1998.