Ta Ya Creates Shared Value with Society Through Old House Restoration
2015/07/08
Miracle x House has received good compliments since it was opened in December 2014. In the afternoon of the 7th, Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs held a conference titled: "Implications of 629 World Industrial Design Day" at Miracle x House, during which Ta Ya Group Chairman Shen Shang-Hung and was invited to engage Business Today publisher Hsieh Chin-Ho in a discussion about shared values created from renewal of old buildings.
Due to the fact that Taipei City will soon be hosting World Design Capital Taipei 2016, the "Implications of 629 World Industrial Design Day" event was organized to introduce to the public how creative designs can help the government and private businesses find new values in cultural heritage. The conference held on the 7th was hosted by Mr. Han Wu, CEO of World Design Capital Taipei 2016 and a jury of Old House movement. "Industrial design has progressed from the design of single products to designing innovative service models. Miracle x House is a good example of how designers have shifted from physical design to managing space." CEO Wu said he was privileged to have one of the financiers of the old house restoration project, Ta Ya Venture Chairman Shen Shang-Hung, to share his business philosophy.
Chairman Shen first explained how Ta Ya came to be involved with project Miracle x House: "The project began with a referral from Industrial Development Bureau. After careful consideration, Ta Ya Group decided to assign Ta Ya Venture to work with National Development Fund for the restoration of Miracle x House. Regeneration of the Western-Japanese building not only gives citizens a quality green space to rest in, but also provides the new generation a chance to look back into the history of Taiwan's economic development through stories of previous owners including Hsu Po-Yuan and Zhang Daomin.
In response to the increasingly popular topic of social enterprises, Chairman Shen believed that Miracle x House possesses characteristics of a social enterprise, because while it serves a public function, it also needs to find ways to profit. The project is a model example of how old houses can be renewed and managed using a new business model to create economic values. At the same time, old houses can also be designed to blend in or even take lead in urban development, and thus create values that can be shared by society. Chairman Shen was supportive of this project because: "At Ta Ya, we believe that the purpose of a company's existence is to contribute to building a pristine homeland."
Publisher Hsieh Chin-Ho drew examples from Shanghai and Moscow to point out that "How the city has utilized the strength of private corporations to relate citizens' lives with old houses will be the biggest highlights of World Design Capital Taipei." Urban renewal in Taipei City should be about bringing new life into old houses that have stories to tell, and creating beauty through creativity.
Chairman Shen further added: "Foreigners do not come to Taiwan to see new, grand architecture, but to experience its local life and culture. For this reason, old house restoration should be treated with equal respect as does urban renewal." In addition, he thanked Madam Xie Fenyu for helping Ta Ya replant century-old trees including camphor, Asian bayberry, cinnamon, and orange jasmine back into the city.