| Title of work | The Ark |
| Concept of the work | Good furniture to life insurance In recent years, global warming and its consequences has down more attentions. According to "Temperature dependence of global precipitation extremes" in Geophysical Research Letters, global average precipitation will increase by 23% if global temperature rises by 1%℃, and for the areas of top 10%presipitation, it will even increase by 95% at the same temperature rise. The unstable weather bring many disasters. It is expected that many cities will be flooded by the sea in the future due to the rise of sea level. When a disaster strikes, it has been seen many times that victims desperately wait for rescue boats and relief materials, but resource boats and relief materials, but resources are limited and rescue is not always immediate. Do we have solutions to this problem? The ark endows rescue boats with a whole new skin and context. Rescue boats can exist in every circumstances through transformation. In normal times, it is placed at home as a sofa. When a disaster strikes, it becomes an emergency facility. Its floating ability protects our lives and properties as a rescue boat. Hence flood victims are able to rescue themselves at the first moment. That also helps the overall rescue progress, reducing life and property loss. |
| Judge's Comment | The material used and other design aspects were simple and easy to understand from the visual image submitted for the First Screening. Although the model submitted for the Final Screening was extremely detailed, it failed to increase the appeal of the proposal. This work proposes that an everyday sofa will transform into a lifeboat for saving lives during natural disasters such as widespread flooding. While this may be an effective idea in regions which are prone to such disasters, people would probably not think of placing the sofa in one's own room as furniture. Instead of private environments, it would be more appropriate to propose the sofa as equipment for schools and other public facilities. |
| Name of Applicant | Tsui-Wei Lin |  |
| Year of Birth | 1982 | |
| Gender | Female | |
| Nationality | Taiwan | |
| Occupation | Student / Shih Chien University | |
| Academic History | Shih Chien University | |
| Co-designer | Chen Wei Ping |  |