Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) The Pingtung Civic Park, also called as HEITO 1909, a 20-hectare urban park carved out of the ruins of a former Taiwan Sugar factory in southern Taiwan, was honored by the Architecture MasterPrize (AMP) Tuesday.
The park, which garnered praise from AMP's jury for being the first in Taiwan to succeed in the "preservation and adaptive reuse of ruins into the landscape," was recognized in two out of 42 categories: landscape architecture -- public; and landscape architecture -- urban design.
The jury hailed the site's revitalization, saying that the HEITO 1909 project had "transformed Taiwan's historical sugar factory into a public gathering place, reimagined the wasteland barrier that struck a decade ago, and integrated community resources around the city."
The park incorporates factory buildings once owned by the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. and left idle since 1994, as well as the adjacent Shashe River, cleaned up in recent years after decades as a notorious dumping ground for industrial wastewater.
The park now provided urban dwellers with a rich natural environment in which to immerse themselves, AMP said.
AMP is sponsored by the United States-based Farmani Group, a leading organization involved in curating and promoting photography, design and architecture worldwide since 1985.
HEITO 1909, which cost NT$400 million (US$14.3 million) and took five years for the Pingtung County government to build, opened in February this year.
The park, situated in Pingtung City, has so far won 10 international architectural prizes, including a Good Design Award, Landezine International Landscape Award LILA, and MUSE Design Awards.
