Students from Chung Yuan Christian University’s College of Design achieved outstanding success at the 2026 University Exhibition Facility Design Competition, organized by KGI Exhibition Co., Ltd. The team Slash Life won the competition’s top honor, the Gold Award and NT$200,000 prize, with its project Between the Wings, while team Bibilabu earned the Silver Award for its design ACCORDION. Competing against 169 entries from 20 universities nationwide, both teams distinguished themselves through innovative concepts and strong design execution, highlighting CYCU’s excellence in interdisciplinary collaboration and design innovation.
The Gold Award-winning team, Slash Life, was formed by students with interdisciplinary backgrounds. Huang Li-Yun, a Commercial Design major with a minor in Interior Design, and Liu Pei-Hsin, an Interior Design major with a minor in Commercial Design, combined their expertise to create Between the Wings. Huang noted that the competition’s emphasis on cross-disciplinary collaboration inspired the team to explore ideas from multiple perspectives, including branding, spatial planning, and user experience. Despite challenges in structural design, material application, and model-making, the team successfully transformed their concept into an award-winning project, demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary innovation and collaboration.
The Gold Award-winning project, Between the Wings, was inspired by the need to address the rigidity, high construction costs, and environmental impact of conventional exhibition booths. Drawing on biomimicry principles, the design balances spatial flexibility, structural efficiency, and sustainability through an adaptable structural system and environmentally conscious materials. Guided by Associate Dean Chen Li-Yu and lecturer Weng Lin-Bao, the team refined the concept throughout the competition process. The instructors noted that beyond the award itself, the students’ willingness to embrace challenges, seek solutions, and continuously improve their work exemplifies the true value of design education.
The judging panel praised Between the Wings for its strong performance across multiple criteria, including design concept and aesthetics, functionality and user experience, structural efficiency, and sustainable material applications. Combining creativity, practicality, and market potential, the project demonstrated an innovative vision for the future of exhibition spaces and earned unanimous recognition from the judges.
In addition to the Gold Award, the team Bibilabu from the Department of Commercial Design’s Product Design Program received the Silver Award for ACCORDION. Inspired by the concept of a future outdoor market booth, the project features a modular and sustainable exhibition system with flexible, wing-inspired structures that create a light, warm, and dynamic spatial experience. Incorporating recycled rPET materials, quick-assembly components, and modular design elements, the project enhances construction efficiency and adaptability while reflecting innovative approaches to sustainable exhibition and circular design.
Faculty advisor Liu Chen-Hsu explained that the project was developed through a design process grounded in real-world market scenarios, encouraging students to consider the needs of event organizers, vendors, and visitors alike. By integrating sustainable materials and AI-assisted design workflows, students engaged in model-making, material testing, and iterative prototyping, strengthening their ability to combine creativity, technical skills, and practical problem-solving in the design process.
Team member Liu Yu-Hsin shared that the project underwent numerous revisions throughout the design process, with the team continuously refining its approach through research and testing on market display needs, spatial experience, and sustainable material applications. She noted that the experience reinforced an important lesson: meaningful design must be driven by real user needs rather than aesthetics alone. Once the team established its core concept of creating a “light, warm, and fluid” experience, every design decision became more focused and purposeful.
From interdisciplinary collaboration between commercial and interior design students to the integration of AI-assisted workflows and sustainable design principles in product design education, CYCU’s College of Design continues to foster innovative learning experiences that equip students with the skills to integrate diverse disciplines, validate ideas through practice, and solve real-world problems. The College’s achievement of both the Gold and Silver Awards highlights not only the students’ creativity and design excellence, but also CYCU’s success in advancing interdisciplinary education, sustainable design, and industry-oriented talent development.
