(CNA file photo)

Taipei, April 19 (CNA) Changhua Station, one of 11 stations on Taiwan's high-speed rail line, has been named as a Popular Choice winner of the A+ Awards organized by Architizer, the largest architecture database in the world.

Inaugurated last year and designed by Kris Yao (姚仁喜), Changhua Station was one of five finalists chosen from more than 100 entries in the Bus & Train Stations category.

(Click here for a video report on an exhibition of Kris Yao's 40-year career)

It won the Popular Choice Award after garnering the most votes of any of the category's five finalists from professionals and design enthusiasts in Architizer's online poll.

Another project involving a transportation hub in the eastern Netherlands, the Arnhem Central Masterplan, won the Jury prize in the category.

The other finalists were the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, Vienna Central Station, and Delft Station, which was co-designed by Mecanoo architecten, the designer of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Wei Wu Ying (衛武營) Metropolitan Park.

In his prize-winning project, Yao drew on the natural surroundings of Changhua Station in shaping his design, built on nature and flower themes.

The station is located in Tianzhong Township (田中) amid rice-growing farmland and adjacent to Tianwei (田尾), the hometown of flowers, inspiring Yao to interweave scenes of poetic images and floral beauty into his design.

"The lithe structural aesthetic of the station, which incorporates the elegance of flowers, ensures structural safety while also giving the building a graceful bearing," according to Architizer's description of the station.

"The roof, whose checkered pattern is reminiscent of rice paddies, is held up by curved columns that allow natural breezes and sunlight into the station," the description read.

Architizer, founded in New York, initiated the A+ awards in 2013 and invited such famous architects as Steven Holl to serve as jurors.

(By Lilian Wu)
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