Introduction

In 1960 the Department was established under the direction of Professor Yue-chen Yu to become the first five-year Architectural Engineering Program in Taiwan, with recruitment according to a single-class system. In the following year Professor Yu-pao Hwang took over responsibilities as director of the department. Altogether with 12 years under directorship of professor Huang, the Department established for itself a rich academic foundation and liberal academic atmosphere. In 1973, the Department relocated from its courtyard-style "architecture village" to the Architecture Building which was built as a result of the cooperation between Department staff, students and alumni. At this time the Department also reorganized, becoming a dual-class system. In the same year, Department alumni, Professor Chile Wang, returned home and took charge of the Department affairs. He was followed by a number of other alumni who had also gone abroad to pursue advanced studies, later returning home to take up teaching positions at the Department and enrich the Faculty resources. In 1974, the Department of Architectural Engineering changed its name to the Department of Architecture, and the role of Director was taken on by Professor Chao-chuan Yu. In addition to conducting a comprehensive review and revision of the original curriculum, Professor Yu also openly invited local scholars to come and offer new courses at the Department. In 1978, Professor Ze-hai Chung  took over responsibilities as Department director and continued to strengthen the faculty`s teaching resources while simultaneously strengthening professional training to provide students with the independent thought and liberal creative capabilities. In order to raise the level of quality in academic research and improve the learning atmosphere, plans were made for the Architecture Research Institute which was established in 1984. The Institute  cultivated talented professionals with a focus on academic research methodology and innovative design. In the same year, Professor Yu Chao-ching managed the responsibilities of both Department Director and Dean of the Research Institute. In order to strengthen the general education foundation and better the academic research atmosphere, curriculum integration was also actively pushed forward at this time. In 1988, in order to raise the quality of education for undergraduates, the Department returned to a "single-class" system, while simultaneously planning and establishing a College of Design with the objective of creating a system of interdisciplinary integration. In 1989, Professor Wei-hsun Hsie  became Department director and began coordinating with the Department`s education objectives to implement curriculum integration and provide students with an integrated learning experience and comprehensive knowledge in Architecture.

In 1993, with donations from Department alumni the Zuo-Sheng Research Center was formally opened, providing faculty and students in the Research Institute with a superior research environment and a more favorable learning space. In 1994, Professor Chaoli Guo took over as director and pushed for equal development of humanities, environmental and house building science research in the field of architecture. His comprehensive revision of the curriculum made design studies central while establishing a mechanism that actively strengthened faculty resources with the objective attaining an international-class level of education quality.

In 1997, Professor Hui-cheng Lin became Department director moved to promote discussion on Architecture Culture by adding a cultural resources research focus to the Research Institute curriculum. The aim was to train talented professionals with skills orientated towards cultural resources protection who could actively promote and take part in local cultural resources protection. In 1999, Professor Cheng-ling Hwang became Department director and continued to promote curriculum integration and revise the design training course setup. In order to give flexibility to the professional architecture training he also established a new mechanism for future architectural education. In the year 2000, Professor Jun-ming Hwang became the acting director of the Department, becoming formal director in the following year. During his term, to give a richer and more globally focused aspect to the method and environment of architecture studies at the Department, he moved to invite renowned international architects to serve as advisors; arranging for them to hold classes, workshops, forums, on-campus and public lectures, and works exhibits, with hopes of raising the architectural design abilities of students and broadening their international view in the field of architecture.

In 2005, Professor Cheng-hsiong Chen took over as director, and in response to the trend of internationalization and society’s need to pluralize, he arranged for the expansion of international academic exchanges and continued to add to the breadth and depth of students learning while expanding equipment and faculty resources for education in computer assisted design; thereby also strengthening the digital architectural learning environment.

In 2007, the Design Doctoral Seminar was founded as an independently organized design institute. Afterwards adjustments were made to integrate and it was reorganized as the Design PHD Degree Program, breaking through the limitations of the academic field and creating juncture for comprehensive design studies and research with architecture as a main axis of development –and consequently, a new level of professional architecture development and thinking was created. At the same time, in accordance with the trends of "sustainable development" and "interdisciplinary integration", the related faculties in the Department of Architecture and the College of Design, created a "cultural resources curriculum" and "environmentally sustainable building curriculum" while strengthening the horizontal integration of professional development.

In February of 2007, Professor Horigome Kenji became Department director and staying true to the trend of internationalization and society’s need to pluralize, he made a comprehensive revision of the professional architecture curriculum and actively strengthened interaction between the Department’s students and the people from the professional sector; combining theory with practical application and R&D to better the practical training foundation of students and cultivate professional talent in architecture.  

In February, 2009 Professor Kuang-chung Cheng took over the duties of Department Director and is currently still serving in this capacity.