atelier FCJZ shapes liangzhu campus with monumental, light-filled vaulting

a new type of education in hangzhou

for the china academy of art (CAA), atelier FCJZ designs the liangzhu campus in hangzhou. at liangzhu, this art-based comprehensive university plans to have four academic divisions, which are college of innovative design, college of art management, college of foundational education, and college of continuing education and will house 3,000 full-time students and 1,000 continuing education students.

the team at atelier FCJZ develops this new campus with four main objectives as part of a design competition held by CAA. these include developing interdisciplinary innovative talents, promoting design and informational economy, integrating artificial intelligence technology, and setting another benchmark for contemporary design education.

image © qingshan wu

a campus vision by atelier fcjz

with its liangzhu campus at china academy of art, the architects at atelier FCJZ proposes that architecture ‘can and should be part of the educational system.’ the team imagines a campus that facilitates making and experimentation while encouraging students to interact with each other in and out of classes to nurture collaboration. the group notes that while traditional classrooms are still necessary, the main teaching-learning space at liangzhu is redefined as an open, continuous studio, where classes can be held and students may, individually or collectively, read, write, draw, build, discuss, or debate.

at this new campus, all the activities on campus are visible, which means that a student can be constantly aware of what others are working on while pursuing his/her interests. the team seeks to blur teaching and learning, research, and practice. the vaulted spaces allow a flood of natural light, large-scale installations, and events including conferences and performances.

a place to learn and live

at atelier FCJZ’s liangzhu campus, students live upstairs of the studios. the vertical stratified system of the dormitory, social space, and studios creates an architecture that embodies the concept of ‘college as a community’ where students live-study under one roof. within the dormitories, there are spaces provided to the students for themselves to organize ‘hobby clubs,’ which are a form of self-taught courses. the team hopes to convey to the students the notion that ‘living is learning,’ which makes up the core ideas of this campus design along with the studios.