Peking University, Feb. 26, 2012: From February 10 to 19, two professors and twelve graduate students from Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), along with sixteen graduate students from the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) of Peking University (PKU), completed a 10-day program under the guidance of Professor Yu Kongjian, president of CALA. This program is an important part of the parallel course in Eco-city planning between Harvard and PKU.
Since 2010, Professor Yu has been working as a visiting professor on Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and Design at GSD. He has been in charge of the course “Ecological Urbanism” for senior graduate students aimed at improving the abilities of graduate students at CALA, and nurturing the GSD students. To achieve this goal, he creatively set a parallel course of the same title and content between GSD and CALA, making full use of the target location in China (Qinglonghu, Fangshan District of Beijing). He enabled students from the two universities to work in pairs, share data, ideas, and to come up with designs independently. It turned out that the students from both sides cooperated closely and the designs of each team were innovative. Based on this, the students can participate in the research of targeted places, brainstorm with each other, and develop their understanding of the design target and further adapt their designs.
The course is currently running well according to the plan.
The central part of the studio is Professor Yu’s Foothill Strategy, which emerged in the process of China’s high-speed urbanization and for the purpose of solving the problems, such as the unlimited expansion of the center city, water pollution, water crisis, air pollution, reduction of arable land and so on. His strategy raised a creative and timely blueprint to make the shallow mountain for the evacuation of the center city. It was widely recognized and responded on its proposal home and abroad. This Studio is also a significant part for the further promotion of the research and generalization of such idea at Harvard University.
2012 celebrates the third year anniversary of this parallel course, and the course has received consistent attention from both sides. GSD President Mohsen Mostafavi attended the discussion at PKU. Vice President Stephen Ervin and Assistant Professor Adrian Blackwell support the whole process with CALA Professor Zhang Tianxin. Professor Wu Honglin was invited to act as the consultant. The Studio is also fully supported by the Tourism Administration of Fangshan and the local governments of Qing Longhu and Zhou Koudian.
Besides, 20 students from different faculties at the ETH Zurich will pay a visit to CALA this April and hold a discussion with fellow members of the program. CALA will offer complete support to the faculty, and will also send students to ETH Zurich for exchange.
Written by: Bai Bing
Edited by: Arthars
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
