Meet the Best Design Winners and Jurors at the 2026 Golden Pin Salon in Kaohsiung

The 2026 Golden Pin Design Award (GPDA)’s Design Perspectives x Golden Pin Salon is heading to Kaohsiung on 8 May 2026 for the final stop of its Asian tour, following Shanghai, Shenzhen, Seoul and Bangkok. The event will be held at the TDRI South Lab (6F, Alto, Kaohsiung Music Center).

A flagship platform for cultural and professional exchange, the annual event is part of GDPA’s commitment to amplify the impact of winning designs through dialogues, exhibitions, and matchmaking initiatives. Over the past years, it has travelled to major creative hubs throughout Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, Chengdu and Singapore, to share perspectives from both winners and jurors.

This year’s grand finale will feature three Best of Golden Pin Design Award winners: acclaimed Taiwanese designer Aaron Nieh, Forest-Wood Archi-Tect founder NK Kuo, and Tsang Yu Industrial Co., Ltd. project manager Yu-Ting Tseng. They will be joined by seasoned jurors Joe Fang, Hsiang-Han Hsu, and Yen-Ying Lin.

About the Speakers

Aaron Nieh is the first Taiwanese designer inducted into the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). His studio, Aaron Nieh Workshop, holds a diverse portfolio comprising music, culture and branding. In 2025, it received the Best of Golden Pin Design Award in Communication Design for “Visual Identity for the Taichung Green Museumbrary”.

Renowned for his deep involvement in the creative process, Nieh brings fresh perspectives to graphic communication through his masterful command of imagery. His presentation, “Minimalism as a Stance”, will explore his design process from initial conceptualisation through to final visual development.

NK Kuo, founder of Forest-Wood Archi-Tect, is a three-time Best of Golden Pin Design Award behind acclaimed projects such as “vortex@EMBERS” (2020), “Maker Space｜Popop Taipei” (2021), and the bamboo structure “Bridge Cocoon” (2024). A practitioner of natural architecture, the designer and maker takes innovative approaches to natural materials and steam-bent wood crafts. Adhering to a “one project per year” ethos, Kuo sources materials from Taiwan’s sustainable forests, respecting their integrity through a “whole-trunk utilisation” approach.

He will discuss his creative journey as well as the future potential of natural material innovation in his presentation, “Stepping into the Forest: Bending Trees and Bamboo into Architecture with Your Hands”.

Forest-Wood Archi-Tect’s work - vortex@EMBERS

Forest-Wood Archi-Tect’s work - Maker Space｜Popop Taipei

Forest-Wood Archi-Tect’s work - Bridge Cocoon

Yu-Ting Tseng is project manager at Tsang Yu Industrial Co., Ltd, specialising in applying design thinking to foster cross-departmental collaboration and translate innovative designs into reality. She co-developed the “Merrylock MK6070 Household Air-threading Combo Sewing Machine”, which won the Best of Golden Pin Design Award in Product Design in 2025. Tseng’s international product development expertise draws on a Master’s in Industrial Design at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, as well as experience at Compal Electronics and Whirlpool’s global design headquarters.

For the salon, Tseng will present “Choosing Like a Child: Decision-Making and Trade-offs in Product Design”, offering insights into real-world rationale and the critical trade-offs throughout the development process.

Alongside the three winners, seasoned jury members Joe Fang (Creative Director of JOEFANGSTUDIO); Hsiang-Han Hsu (Founder of Hsiang Han Design); and Yen-Ying Lin (Lead Architect of YEN Partnership Architects), will share their professional perspectives and selection criteria from their respective fields, giving audience a deeper understanding of what defines exceptional design.

Registration for the 2026 Design Perspectives x Golden Pin Salon in Kaohsiung is now open via Accupass (https://bit.ly/4ct9D4y). Early registration is strongly encouraged for this exclusive opportunity to engage with the speakers, as seating is limited and no livestream will be provided.