China's Tsinghua University Wins Future Cities Design Competition
 BEIJING,
August 30, 2010 - The Center for International Business Ethics (CIBE) in Beijing, the Dynamic
City Foundation, and Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company
dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure
that sustains our world, today announced that the project designed by the
student team from the Architecture Department of Tsinghua University won top
honors in the inaugural Future Cities China design competition. The competition
was open to all students studying architecture and engineering in institutions
of higher education, but all essay submissions had to be in Chinese. The program
challenged students to use their design skills, along with Bentley software, to
provide a master plan for the sustainable university campus of tomorrow. The
goal was to create a campus that could serve as the cornerstone of a modern
“green” Chinese city and help address the many challenges associated with
complex, inner-city environments. Nearly 200 student teams from more than 70
universities submitted projects to the competition, which an independent panel
of distinguished jurors narrowed to eight finalists. The finalists, which
represented Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, China
Agricultural University, Harvard University, Jianghan University, Tsinghua
University, and Xi’an Jiaotong University, competed in a three-day forum held
24-26 August. The winning team receives an all-expense-paid, one-month
internship at the U.S. headquarters of Bentley Systems in Exton, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.“This was a wonderful competition, and I’m incredibly proud of all of
the participants,” Dr. Liu Baocheng, director of CIBE in Beijing, said. “Of
course, special recognition is due to the team from Tsinghua for its great work
and extraordinarily creative master plan. I am proud to have been a part of this
year’s Future Cities China program and eagerly look forward to next year’s
competition.”
“The keen interest in this inaugural competition, as well as in the
enrichment of China’s city environments facilitated by new and improved
infrastructure, is reflected in the large number of high-quality submissions we
received,” Dr. Jean-Baptiste Monnier, senior vice president, Bentley
Asia-Pacific, said. “I, too, congratulate the student team from Tsinghua
University as well as all of the finalists on successfully completing this
rigorous exercise and creating such innovative and imaginative projects. Each
student who participated in the competition gained valuable knowledge and
advanced their design skills, which will serve them well and provide them with a
valuable competitive edge as they embark on careers in the infrastructure
professions.”
Meng Ning, a member of the winning Tsinghua student team of two, said, “The
intensity of the competition and latitude for creativity were unprecedented. We
learned a great deal through this fresh and exciting experience, and I am
extremely happy about the upcoming trip to Bentley Systems in the U.S. I’m sure
the internship will be a great help to my future career, and I am truly thankful
for this opportunity.”
Liu Yun, the second member of the Tsinghua team, added, “I am very happy that
I was able to take part in such a tremendous experience. We were finally able to
apply what we’ve learned to a real-world design challenge. Now I am looking
forward to the internship with Bentley.”
The teams consisted of up to three students, plus a professor or
infrastructure professional as mentor. Each team submitted a proposed conceptual
master plan for the sustainable university campus with the following elements:
-
A logistic concept for the public space of the
Future Cities campus, including its connections to the surroundings and a
basic understanding of the landscape;
-
A general massing study for the school’s
architectural program;
-
An essay that describes the proposal’s core
concept, how the campus relates to the surrounding area and infrastructure,
and how the proposal is sustainable.
The project site, Shuang Hua Yuan, is an underdeveloped plot in the heart of
Beijing. It is disconnected from the city by large arteries, yet accessible by
public transportation. The heavy infrastructural lines increase the complexity
of the site, dividing it into four plots, typical of post-industrial cities in
China. Alternatively, the site offers an open and green area on the edge of the
central business district.
The winning university campus design project, titled “School in Between,”
cultivated an integrated or holistic approach to urban issues. In this design,
the university is no longer the ivory tower. Rather, it assumes the role of
intermediary for cultural exchange and provides space and facilities for the
environment around it.
Second- and third-place honors went to the teams from Beijing Institute of
Civil Engineering and Architecture and Xi’an Jiaotong University, respectively.
Each member of these two teams receives a one-month internship at a Bentley
office in China.
About the Center for International Business Ethics
The Center for International Business Ethics is a research and training
organization that aims to promote business ethics and corporate responsibility
awareness in business, student, academic, and public circles. CIBE engages in a
number of projects toward this aim through research, outreach, and student
development. CIBE is part of the University of International Business and
Economics, and was founded by several schools and organizations in 2004.
For additional information about CIBE, visit
www.cibe.org.cn.
About Dynamic City Foundation
The Dynamic City Foundation (DCF) is a research and design institute focused
on the rapid transformation of China’s urban landscape. In 2003 the DCF began
the Urban China 2020 project, an in-depth study of the effects of China’s flash
urbanization and how designers can respond to this process. To achieve this, the
DCF established www.BURB.tv, an online
collaboration platform for open-source research and design. The objective of
building 400 new cities by the year 2020, as formulated by the former Chinese
Minister of Civil Affairs, provides this project with its research framework.
For additional information about DCF, visit
www.dynamiccity.org.
About Bentley Systems, Incorporated
Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers,
constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for
sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has nearly 3,000 colleagues
in more than 45 countries, $500 million in annual revenues, and, since 1999, has
invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.
For additional information about Bentley, visit
www.bentley.com.
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