Chen Renhe was born in 1922 in Jibei island, Penghu. In the early 1940s, he went to Japan and studied architecture at the Department of Science and Engineering Specialized School, Waseda University, graduating in 1944. In 1951, Chen established his own practice in Kaohsiung.His first major work was the Kaohsiung Buddhist Hall (1954–1966), followed by a series of remarkable projects in the 1960s and 1970s including the Student Hall of San Sin High School of Commerce and Home Economics (1962) and its Wave Building (1963), the former Assembly Hall of Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Elementary School (1964), the Kaohsiung Business Bank (1964), the Fengshan Ming-Shan Temple (1965), the Kaohsiung Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative Pingtung Office (1969), the CPC Kaohsiung Dormitories, Longhu Monastery (1970), and the Fengshan Meat Market (1976/1985). 

Chen’s works integrate expressiveness of structure with sensitivity in consideration of the local climate, revealing a distinctive form of structural expressionism rooted in regional character. His architecture  prophesied the healthy direction of Taiwan’s architectural culture—diverse, inclusive, dynamic, and creative. In photographs, Chen often appears as a figure ”next-to-you” —an “Ojisan” (middle-aged man in local dialect) who you bump into on the streets in Kaohsiung. This everydayness reflects the genuine regionality embodied in his works. The path he forged continues to serve as a vital reference for the future development of Taiwan’s architectural culture.