learn taiwanese or mandarin if you don't know already.

that's all. . .

my uncle is an architect at taiwan. he is a native there and works 6 hrs everday. He currently resides at dan shui, north of taipei and the town is very nice. He has a really nice apartment.

Taiwan people are different from Chinese people in some aspects particularly in the practice of architecture.

In terms of business and growth, I think China would be a better bet if you were to practice architecture but the standard of living in Taiwan overall is much better. Diplomatic relations between China and Taiwan are stiff, so I'm not sure how common it is for Taiwanese architects to practice architecture in China.

Best of luck!

taiwanese is not a necessity but it would be very useful for you to know how to speak mandarin. English is now very popular in Taiwan but most Taiwanese people's knowledge of English is still generally poor.

its been years since I have been to Taiwan, have they started anglifying (sp?) the street signs outside the major cities yet? my chinese is so poor i had a hard time getting around outside of big cities like Taipei and Kiaoshung. I find having a good basis in Taiwanese and Mandarin will help getting by MUCH easier... i have had a few friends get by with just english but it was only for 2 weeks. Now that you are talking about Taiwan, I better brush up on it incase Zaha's building ever gets built in Tiachung.

and i think Jean Nouvel and Frank Gehry have something in the works for Tiachung too.

Thanks for all the responses!

I am a native Mandarin speaker, lived in Taiwan until I was 14.
I just want to get some basic information about the design industry in Taiwan before I make the leap.

What are some of the cool local firms?

I came from Taiwan and lived in Taiwan untill I was 27.....

More than half of my school mates in Arch. school have business ties with CHINA, bigger firms have setting their foot on CHinese market for a long time, the smaller firms are striving for survivl, there does have good example that an mid-size firm with FULL colaboration with real-estate are having almost USD$2,000,000,000 (yes, the number is correct) anaul profit, but it is certainly rare..........

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For Galaxiz, if you can read Chinese, you should swing by local architectural forum like www.forgemind.com to get your feet wet on what local young design professional are thinking about....

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Galaxiz, a entry portol you can start with...

http://tw.dir.yahoo.com/Art/Classification/Design_Arts/Construction/

http://tw.dir.yahoo.com/Business/Company/Construction/Firms/

Major-big firm

http://www.fcp.com.tw/

http://www.artech-inc.com/

http://www.auradesign.com.tw/

small firm (most of them dont have a website :-( )

http://www.shi-chieh-lu.com/

......

To Hannitect,

Thanks man...that's a good introduction.
I know about Aura Design and Shi-chieh Lu, and I used to know somebody who worked in Artech. When I was in school, I interned at CY Lee & Partners for two summers. By the way, ever heard of this guy? www.mwa.com.tw

Specifically, I'm more interested in (...dare I say it?) interior design (ok people, let the bashing begin). I'm a NCIDQ-registered interior designer, and I'm currently working in a major international firm that specializes in hospitality field (hotels, to be specific), and I would like to find something along the line as well in Taiwan. By any chance that you know any firm that does hotel jobs?

HI, everyone! I am a new comer! I'd like to know that if anyone in this forum know the information like the interior design firms in Taiwan which do the office type of commercial space for foreign company? Thank you for your reply! Really appreciate it!