CYCU Department of Landscape Architecture LongStay to Integrate into Zhongyi Community in Taichung
yamnews/Reporter Ko Pei-Yu/News of Zhongli-2016/04/01 17:10PM
Teachers and students of CYCU Department of Landscape Architecture had the Long Stay in Zhongyi Community (Gongguan new Village) in Daya District, Taichung City. More than 30 teachers and students visited the Community to know about the transformation of local culture, history and space by the extracurricular Service-Learning course for “Community Development and Public Participation”, and to verify the local problems and needs by experiencing sleeping on the floor for “Staying Locally and Living in Community”. They proposed the visions and suggestions for community development to Zhongyi Community by virtue of the professional training and tools provided by CYCU Department of Landscape Architecture.
Zhongyi Community in Daya District, Taichung City was known as “Gongguan new Village” before, which was a veteran village derived from Ching-Chuan-Kang Air Base nearby. In early years, the Government utilized the wooden houses left from the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan to plan and settle servicemen and their dependents. The village was prosperous once, but as times go by, the railways which were used to carry battle tanks were transformed into “Tanyashen Bike Path” for tourism and recreation. The residents in the wooden houses emigrated to the new urban areas in Qingshui District, Taichung City. Many indigenous people immigrated here and the community became the one accommodated with the highest proportion of indigenous people. The original site of the wasted elementary school was reconstructed as the Indigenous Peoples Service Center.
The abundant cultural history and transformation of space of Zhongyi Community formed the contents of the “Community Development and Public Participation” course this year. A total of 34 teachers, students and assistant professors including Assistant Professor Lien Chen-Yu of CYCU Department of Landscape Architecture arrived at Zhongyi Community on April 3, and planned to stay at North Europe Church of Holiness Church and independent bookstore “Dao Din Bookstore” by sleeping on the floor overnight for six days to initiate the series of Service-Learning course including “Tour to Know Community”, “Collection of Local Cultural and Historical Stories”, “Research and Drafting of Community Development Programs”, “Production of Map and Model for Community Visions”, “Presentation of Results Developed by Residents” and “Elementary School Students’ Tutoring Hours”.
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By this Long Stay, the students are able to know more about the causes originating the “invisible” landscapes in Zhongyi Community and also introduced the young and desirable planning and design idea to the Community.
The local chief of village, Lin Yi-Mu, during the preparation for these courses, said that “We will find the opportunities to practice your ideas one by one; before you leave, I would gather the residents to listen to your suggestions and programs to urge all people to find the dream for the Community’s future!” The presentation of results has been scheduled to be held in the meeting room of the Community Activity Center at the night on April 7.
The extracurricular learning for students’ long stay in communities is used to being a tradition of CYCU Department of Landscape Architecture, aiming to develop the humanistic quality of the students of Department of Landscape Architecture and train them to form the designer’s spirit and idea about humanistic care and human-centered thoughts. The “Community Development and Public Participation” course will achieve the greatest results.
