男人藏精阁

2025 | Professional

男人藏精阁 Silver Winner Winner

Ruo Pu

Entrant Company

WEN MING CHU Architects & Associates

Category

Residential Architecture - Multi-Family and Apartment Buildings

Client's Name

Country / Region

Taiwan

The project is situated along the outer arc of a curved road. The design is inspired by the phrase 鈥渦npretentious like wood that has not been fashioned into anything鈥 from the Tao Te Ching, which serves as the conceptual foundation. The project aims to express values of simplicity, humility, and authenticity, reflecting the residents鈥 desire for security, stability, and essential living. From the early design stages, the team intentionally avoided incorporating commercial arcades and storefronts at the street corner. Instead, a 14-meter setback was introduced to shape a buffer zone, accompanied by a minimalist fair-faced concrete colonnade, establishing a dialogue with the city grounded in a "non-commercial, purely residential" spirit.

The project breaks away from the conventional dependence on high-value ground-floor storefronts common in urban townhouses. Prioritizing safety and residential quality, it proposes a 鈥渮ero-retail, all-residential鈥 typology. The corner location originally presented challenges like Feng-Shui concerns and vehicular centrifugal force risks. These were addressed through architectural setbacks, spatial framing, and forecourt design, transforming the setback zone into a secure community entrance, enhancing pedestrian safety and urban scale.

The building is concentrated toward the rear of the site. Each unit鈥檚 orientation was adjusted for optimal sunlight exposure, allowing residents to enjoy excellent ventilation and daylight. The staggered balcony configuration creates a three-dimensional green interface and allows vertical planting spaces, while also generating dynamic night-time light and shadow effects.

The rooftop features a nine-meter-tall oval steel structure referencing the traditional Chinese cosmological concept of 鈥渞ound sky, square earth,鈥 offering a shaded platform for socializing, relaxing, and enjoying panoramic views, tailored to southern Taiwan鈥檚 climate and urban landscape.

Credits

Wen-Ming Chu
Su-Kan Hsu
Hsiu-Ju Lin
More Silver Winner Winners
Residential Architecture
2025
男人藏精阁 - Banyan Retreat: The nest
Robert Anderson

Entrant Company

tono Inc.

Category

Residential Architecture - Small Living Spaces (Tiny Homes, Studios)

Commercial Architecture
2025
男人藏精阁 - Shin Ruenn World Center
SHIN RUENN GROUP

Entrant Company

smt design

Category

Commercial Architecture - Mixed-Use Developments

Landscape Architecture
2025
男人藏精阁 - Steel and Soul

Entrant Company

TingTing Peng

Category

Landscape Architecture - Industrial Landscape

Student Design
2025
男人藏精阁 - ECHO
LI, Hui-Shan and LI, Yan-Ci

Entrant Company

China University of Technology

Category

Student Design - Interior Design