West Lake University Campus, Hangzhou

Cultural encounter

Konzept

The new West Lake University Campus is characterized by its pleasant, scenic location on the 89-hectare West Lake with its extensive wetlands and water networks. To the west of the city of Hangzhou, with its silk and tea production regarded as one of the birthplaces of Chinese cultural history, the location enables a harmonious, contemporary integration of the new campus into a cultural landscape that has grown organically throughout history.  Through the overlapping of Chinese and European garden culture, the campus concept will be conceptually further developed, thus producing innovative, superior open space qualities.

By incorporating the local environmental conditions, including its river systems, a hydrophilic campus landscape will be created that is committed to the concept of ecologically sustainable development and at the same time implements and makes use of innovative technologies. Typical elements and arrangements of Chinese garden culture such as bridges, pavilions, rock gardens or lotus ponds alternate with a western-style structure in the form of central, open spaces and linear boulevards. In an encounter between natural proportions, organized open space structure and modern high tech, a new type of landscape is being developed on the West Lake university campus.