When Tunghai University was es-tablished in the 1950s it was as prestigious as National Taiwan University, and most of its students, like those of NTU, went abroad for further education after they graduated.
1950 年代創校的私立東海，與國立首府台大齊名，學生也循「來來來，來台大；去去去，去美國」模式，90 % 畢業後皆出國；在當時民生凋弊的台灣，注定需要大資本投入的建築領域，所能施展的空間也並不多。