Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design Goes to Inspiring Formosa Generative Scenography by Hsiaoyi Yu
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Hsiaoyi Yu for performing arts, stage, style and scenery design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 30, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Inspiring Formosa Generative Scenography by Hsiaoyi Yu, designed for Formosa Pipe Organ Society, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Inspiring Formosa Generative Scenography
Inspiring Formosa is a generative virtual scenography system for live pipe organ concerts. Instead of physical sets, the system uses an artificial intelligence engine and a 5G low latency network to translate live sound and the movements of the organist into moving visual scenery. The visuals are projection mapped onto the venue architecture and the organ pipes, and they are synchronized with the stage lighting. The method avoids any alteration of heritage concert halls and removes the need for built and transported sets.
About Hsiaoyi Yu
Hsiao-Yi Yu is a Taiwanese pipe organist, cultural sustainability advocate, and Artistic Director of the Formosa Organ Cultural Association. Dedicated to the preservation of pipe organ heritage and the advancement of international cultural exchange, she explores innovative ways to connect cultural heritage, contemporary art, and emerging technologies. Her interdisciplinary work integrates music, architecture, cultural assets, and digital media, creating immersive experiences that reimagine how culture can be preserved, interpreted, and shared in the digital age.
Award Record
Hsiaoyi Yu is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design Award
The A' Performing Arts Design Award is an international competition recognizing excellence in set, stage, and performing arts design by top designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to performing arts designers, set designers, theater architects and costume designers from all countries. Typical entries include choreography, dance moves, theatrical sets, dance costumes, stage lighting and opera props. The awarded performing arts designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/performing-arts
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/182998
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182998
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182998
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/373908
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://formosaorganist.com.tw/contents/text?id=113
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Inspiring Formosa Generative Scenography
- Function
- Generative Scenography
- Category
- Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Arts and Entertainment
- Colors
- Black, Maroon, Saddle Brown and Sienna
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Formosa Pipe Organ Society
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Hsiaoyi Yu
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182998
Credits
- Image Credits
- Formosa Pipe Organ Society, Inspiring Formosa, 2025.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Inspiring Formosa is a generative scenography system for live pipe organ concerts. Unlike traditional physical stages, it utilizes an AI engine and 5G to translate live acoustics into dynamic architectural projections instantly. This zero-waste, scalable model solves the restriction of altering heritage venues. Its unique advantage lies in transforming invisible sound into immersive visual art, offering a highly marketable, sustainable touring framework for contemporary performing arts.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the concept of "Gesamtkunstwerk" (total artwork), we sought to modernize the millennium-old pipe organ. The motivation was to decode classical heritage visually without damaging historical venues. Supported by ITRI's 5G low-latency network and Gaussian Splash AI simulations processing physical paintings, we treated the venue as a breathing instrument. This interdisciplinary research merges sound physics with algorithmic beauty, amplifying human emotion through smart technology.
- Research
- This applied research aims to sustainably modernize classical performances. The methodology translates real-time acoustics into visual syntax using an AI engine, 5G networks, and Gaussian Splash simulations. We tested this with a live organist and audiences at two national venues. The result is a zero-waste, scalable virtual scenography. Insights prove this digital model revitalizes cultural heritage, eliminates physical touring waste, and offers a highly marketable theatrical experience.
- Challenge
- Culturally, the challenge was modernizing the pipe organ without compromising its heritage. Technically, national concert halls strictly prohibit physical stage constructions. We overcame this by replacing traditional props with non-invasive projection mapping to create a virtual scenography. Furthermore, synchronizing live acoustics with AI visuals required solving severe latency issues. Integrating a 5G network ensured zero-delay rendering, unifying heritage with dynamic digital scenery.
- Realization and Technology
- Realized without physical sets, the virtual scenography uses TouchDesigner as the core engine, integrating generative AI, particle systems, and live video capture. A 5G low-latency multicam setup captures the organist’s hand and pedal movements, feeding data into the engine. AI models analyze live acoustics and process physical paintings via Gaussian Splash simulations. Visuals are projection-mapped onto the venue's architecture, synchronized with stage lighting via DMX and ArtNet protocols.
- Operation and Interaction
- Instead of using traditional wooden sets, the stage operates as a living, interactive canvas. As the organist performs, an intelligent system listens to the live melodies and captures her movements. It instantly translates this acoustic energy into fluid, breathing light projections mapped directly onto the venue's walls and organ pipes. This real-time interaction creates a deeply immersive visual journey, offering a breathtaking, zero-waste theatrical experience that static props cannot achieve.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project development started in 2021 in Taipei, Taiwan. The first iteration premiered at the National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei on August 9, 2024. The project was subsequently expanded and exhibited at the Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung on October 24, 2025, completing the twin-city curatorial framework.
- Specifications
- As a zero-waste virtual scenography, the design possesses no physical dimensions. It utilizes a 5G low-latency multicam system for real-time capture of the organist's movements. The visual engine, powered by TouchDesigner and ITRI's generative AI, processes acoustic data and physical paintings via Gaussian Splash simulations. Outputs are projection-mapped directly onto the venue's architecture and synchronized seamlessly with stage lighting via DMX and ArtNet protocols.
- Keywords
- virtual scenography, stage design, projection mapping, generative art, pipe organ concert, interactive stage, artificial intelligence, 5G technology, immersive environment, total artwork
