- Chinese Name: 謝英俊
- Born: 1954
- Birthplace: Taichung County (Central Taiwan)
- Did You Know That …?
- Hsieh, who has built more than 3,000 homes with local people in natural disaster zones, was the first Asian architect to win the Curry Stone Design Prize, an award honoring innovative projects that use design to improve the daily living conditions of people in communities around the world.
Hsieh Ying-chun is a leading architect of post-disaster reconstruction who helps villagers facilitate construction work at catastrophe sites and rural areas through cooperative and sustainable methods. Over the past decades, Hsieh has conducted several collaborative construction projects in Asia and India, and his humanitarian efforts made him the winner of the National Award for Arts in 2012.
As a graduate of the Department of Architecture in Tamkang University, Hsieh started his career in 1984 as a contractor for construction of factories in the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park until the 7.3-magnitude Jiji earthquake struck in 1999.
The massive earthquake, which was the second-deadliest quake in Taiwan's recorded history, killed more than 2,000 people and damaged more than 50,000 buildings. The disaster brought Hsieh to participate in reconstruction work at Sun Moon Lake, where the Thao aboriginal community was seriously affected.
With the belief that engaging in house-building activity is a positive way to help ease suffering caused by the disaster, Hsieh developed low-cost and simplified techniques to integrate earthquake-safe steel-frame structures with prefabricated housing units in collaboration with local villagers.
Hsieh established a collaborative network with other designers and contractors to help evaluate the situation based on local culture and weather. Providing only house frames, his flexible designs allowed villagers to use native materials and incorporate their own floor plans and aesthetic details to build sustainable houses that embody local identity.
In 2004, Hsieh promoted and demonstrated his practice in rural areas in China, helping local farmers build sustainable and earthquake-resistant houses that incorporated local culture as well as the wisdom of farmers.
Later Hsieh was involved in the reconstruction work after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and 2009 Typhoon Morakot. By offering proven techniques and experiences, Hsieh and his team assisted farmers and affected households by building more than 1,000 houses.
In 2009, Hsieh joined the Venice Biennale to present his concept and practice of collaborative construction through videos, documents, and installations, showing how he turned architecture into a force of social activity that improved living conditions for people.
Having practiced the concept of collaborative construction in Taiwan and other parts of Asia, Hsieh's next step is to introduce and promote such social building methods to rural communities in South America, Africa, and even Syria to help more people re-build their homes.