Xiangshan Campus China Academy of Art

Description

The work of this studio, founded by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, stems from a critique of Chinese spatial and architectural practice in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. That is to say, the excessive obsession with demolition, especially in rural areas, and the focus on Western trends. So the studio rethought these issues, looking for an architectural language that took into account local building wisdom. Wang Shu spent several years learning the trade from local Chinese builders.  It is from this perspective that the Xiangshan University campus was born. The site itself, chosen by the architects and different from the one chosen by the authorities, speaks of this defence of Chinese tradition, for which the landscape is of paramount importance. Here, the hills to the east of Hangzhou take centre stage, creating a dialogue with the undulations of the roof.Built in two phases, the campus consists of more than 20 buildings that house, among other things, the Schools of Architecture and Design. The design pays particular attention to the spaces between the buildings, the public space for students to interact with each other, providing places to meet, gather and contemplate nature.  The presence of water throughout the campus recalls the canals of the traditional city, while the choice of materials suggests a dialogue between modernity, represented by concrete, and tradition, symbolically present through the use of ceramic pieces from demolition sites in the area.