Recently, the full list of winners for the 2025 Japan IDPA International Pioneer Design Award was officially announced. The work of our Ph.D. candidate in Design, Peng Yiming, titled *“6:00 PM ‘Warm Current Project’—Nan Zhu Square Community Space Renovation Project”*, was honored with an International Pioneer Design Award.

The Japan International Pioneer Design Award (Japan IDPA AWARD) was established in Tokyo, Japan in 2018. It is co-organized by the China-Europe International Design Association (CEIDA), China International Design Network (CIID88), ATELIER TEMMA Co., Ltd., the Japan Architecture and Interior Association, as well as several renowned Japanese design institutions and designers. The award aims to recognize internationally acclaimed designers or the most influential design institutions. The Japan IDPA AWARD serves as one of the best platforms to understand the world’s cutting-edge culture and design concepts, while also promoting the development of the global cultural and creative industries, fostering greater cultural exchange, collaboration, and mutual benefit among countries worldwide.

Award Ceremony:

Award-Winning Work:

Project Description:

“Water” signifies life, strength, speed, and warmth. “Water” possesses infinite directions and forms. “Tears” are composed of 98% water. They carry stories, incidents, and countless emotions that occur in the city every single day. From the perspective of urban and spatial creation, tears are moist and warm—they reflect the collective portrait of humanity. I see them as the “warm current” within the city, flowing between people, between people and space, and between people and the city itself.

The *6:00 PM “Warm Current Project”* is primarily established in high-density communities to help working families alleviate challenges such as being unable to pick up or drop off their children on time and ensuring that elderly family members have regular meals. Starting from the perspective of community social relationships and needs, the project is based on property management units and sets up semi-public, affordable communal canteens. These canteens connect working families in need and are extended to include children’s play areas, elderly recreation zones, and public teaching spaces. The project systematically classifies and connects previously isolated groups within the community, such as left-behind children and empty-nest elderly. Retired seniors can provide semi-voluntary lessons to children in exchange for free meals, thereby giving back to the community. Children, in turn, can dine, play, and attend classes in a familiar and trustworthy community space while waiting for their parents to return from work, simultaneously keeping company with the elderly in the neighborhood.

The *6:00 PM “Warm Current Project”* seeks to address common challenges faced by urban office workers through the aforementioned approach, while also filling certain gaps in the social relationships within high-density communities. Through this spatial renovation, the project refines community functions, enhances humanistic care, and makes an effort to strengthen the social fabric of the community by providing both a practical attempt and a bridge for closer social connections.

Award Certificate:

Award Acceptance Speech

This award is not only a recognition of my individual creative work but also a source of encouragement for my future endeavors.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the School of Innovation Design at the City University of Macau for providing an excellent platform for young designers to engage in both practice and research. It has offered fertile ground for the integration and advancement of “Art + Technology.” I will continue to strive forward and bring further honor to my alma mater.

Written by: Peng Yiming

Reviewed by: Huang Jiancheng