Part 2 Immersive Asia Study Tour 2016
Day 11 29th Tuesday November 2016
Today we arrived in Taipei. We quickly realised the huge contrast between Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are less buildings, more greenery and lots of scooters everywhere.
Day 12 30th Wednesday November 2016
We visited Fu Jen Catholic University. We were introduced with 3D printing facilities and got to makes badges, keyrings, bottle openers and user laser cutters for customised name tags. We also got an introduction to design in Taiwan and a tour around the art gallery and part of their campus.
To end the day we wandered around 1814 Huashan creative park. I found it similar to PMQ at Hong Kong, but smaller and with a lot of shops with sustainable products that are being sold. It was an interesting place to hang out with the old buildings and history that are intertwined within the modern pop-up shops and exhibitions.
Transport in Taiwan
I found the transport system interesting in Taiwan. Especially, using tokens for single journey trips. The layout was similar to Hong Kong with clear signage of maps and directions of where to go to catch the train to the particular destination. However, there was limited information of where exits will take the user. Also, it is a lot quieter and less hectic during the day than I thought it would be. However, I did not catch the train during peak hour, so not sure how it would be like in a full train.
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Day 13 1st Thursday November 2016
From Taipei Station we took the Taiwan High-Speed Rail to Kaoshiung.
We had tours at three companies. Rooster Lighting was a great insight to lighting and interaction design. Weko was a unique opportunity to see products being manufactured in various ways. And New Design Dimension showed us how 3D printing can be a tool when designing and testing products, but also as artworks.
Day 14 2nd Friday November 2016
On our last day on tour, we had a unique opportunity to visit an architecture firm and learn the similarities between industrial design and the design process architects and interior designers use.
We then had a tour at the Taiwan Design Museum- 100 years of Dutch Design.​ To end the day some of us went to Syndtrend and got to play with the HTC VIVE VR.
Day 14 3rd Saturday November 2016
On our last day, a few of us visited Museum Contemporary Art Taipei and Taipei 101 ,Street Markets, Roahe Temple Market- Ciyou Temple
The last two weeks were an incredible experience i won’t forget! I learnt a lot in relation to design, but also other cultures, values and the way of living. Will miss the beautiful countries.
