The Department of Landscape Architecture at Chung Yuan Christian University is dedicated to cultivating professionals with an international perspective and integrating international elements to provide students with broader learning opportunities. Additionally, the department actively invites top design schools from around the world, including Dr. Frederick Steiner, Dean of the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, to give lectures and serve as guest jurors for design reviews. Dr. Steiner focuses on landscape design and planning, offering insights into addressing contemporary climate and societal changes. This initiative strengthens the bond between faculty, students, and international trends in sustainable landscape design thinking.
The University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1740, is a renowned Ivy League institution in the United States, particularly known for its disciplines in architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. The landscape architecture department was established in 1924 with a strong emphasis on ecological planning, producing numerous outstanding professionals in architecture and landscape architecture. Many graduates from the University of Pennsylvania’s landscape architecture program teach at Chung Yuan Christian University and other landscape architecture departments across Taiwan, showcasing the international academic influence of the University of Pennsylvania’s landscape architecture program. In recent years, the department has begun integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics into biomimetic constructions, leading the forefront of design thinking and research and bringing new directions to the future of landscape architecture.
Under the guidance of Professor Hsu Yi-Pei from the Department of Landscape Architecture, the course “Global Study – Overseas Visits and Design Workshops” has achieved fruitful results. The course invited Dean Steiner, who had previously supervised Chung Yuan landscape architecture students studying abroad in Philadelphia, to visit. Dean Steiner participated in the senior design review exchange meeting as a guest juror, providing professional evaluations of the students’ designs.
Dean Steiner highly praised the students’ performance and provided valuable advice and directions for further reflection. He emphasized the importance of the designer’s personal and deep connection to the local context. He encouraged the students to integrate genuine needs into environmentally-oriented designs, using models and sections to illustrate in detail the relationships between mountains, water systems, and urban areas. He advocated for a thorough analysis of relevant case studies to expand design thinking.
