The 2025 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, featuring the “Chrono Ecstasy” project created by the Taichung City Government’s Construction Bureau, attracted a large number of visitors who came to take photos and check in. Following its achievement of the Gold Award in the Experiential & Immersive category at the 2025 MUSE Design Awards and the Gold Award in the Conceptual Design category at the 2025 French Design Awards in March, it has recently received further recognition. The project has won two prestigious international awards: the Gold Award in the Lighting Design category at the 2025 Rome Design Awards and the Gold Award in the Experiential & Immersive category at the 2025 London Design Awards. The “Chrono Ecstasy” project’s world-class design honors not only represent a significant affirmation of the city government and curatorial team’s efforts but also successfully elevate Taiwan’s creative thematic lantern festival designs onto the global stage, showcasing the remarkable strength of Taiwanese culture and design.
Director Chen Da-tian of the Construction Bureau noted that the 2025 Rome Design Awards and the 2025 London Design Awards are highly influential honors within the international design community. The former emphasizes innovation in spatial lighting through the integration of art and technology, recognizing outstanding works in the use of light and shadow, visual aesthetics, and environmental integration. The latter focuses on experience design and immersive storytelling, rewarding groundbreaking projects in interactive technology, atmosphere creation, and user experience. The dual Gold Awards received by “Chrono Ecstasy” not only highlight the international competitiveness of Taiwanese design teams but also bring global attention to the creative vision of the Central Taiwan Lantern Festival.
The Construction Bureau explained that “Chrono Ecstasy,” themed around the concept of a parallel universe, features four major lantern zones designed to create an immersive lighting environment, which has been widely praised throughout the exhibition period. After the conclusion of the lantern festival, the “Time Oasis” zone—featuring the sacred beast antelope and floral arrangements—has been specially preserved and integrated with elements from other lantern zones to form a permanent exhibition. Nighttime lighting effects are also maintained, allowing visitors to experience the installations both during the day and at night, thereby extending the festival’s appeal and spatial character.
The Construction Bureau noted that following this year’s lantern festival, the festival has collectively received four prestigious international design awards: the 2025 MUSE Design Awards, the 2025 French Design Awards, the 2025 Rome Design Awards, and the 2025 London Design Awards. These recognitions serve as a significant affirmation of Taichung City and curatorial team’s efforts in large-scale event spatial design and curation. The bureau also invited the public to look forward to the 2026 Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, which promises to deliver even more captivating thematic lantern zones and a fully immersive sensory experience.
Additionally, the Construction Bureau has provided detailed information on the official websites of the respective award as follows:
2025 MUSE Design Awards – Gold Award (https://museaward.com/winner-info.php?id=232562)
2025 French Design Awards – Gold Award (https://frenchdesignawards.com/winner-info.php?id=2940)
2025 Rome Design Awards – Gold Award (https://romedesignawards.com/winner-info.php?id=206)
2025 London Design Awards – Gold Award (https://litadvertisingawards.com/winner-info.php?id=461)