Expanding Borders: the School of Architecture in China
In the decades since his initial visit, and the subsequent study programs that followed, China experienced one of the largest ruralto-urban shifts in modern history. A recent New York Times article estimates some 300 million Chinese became city dwellers over the past two decades, and the global management design.umn.edu
Expanding career opportunities for international architects is one of the main reasons for a recent trip to China by current School of Architecture head Renée Cheng. In April, she toured a handful of Chinese architecture schools, including Dongnan University in Nanjing, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Tianjin University in Tianjin. “It’s unusual to do a trip of this nature,” said Cheng, who pointed out that visiting a total of eight schools in two weeks was ambitious, but it allowed her to compare what was happening at different locations. “The benefit is having the perspective of seeing so many of the top Chinese architecture schools at one time.” At Tianjin University, she met with Dr. Tongtong Liu, dean of the School of Architecture at Tianjin University, who remembers sharing a studio space with visiting students from the School of Architecture in the early ‘80s. Another goal of her visit was exploring the establishment of a dual-degree program
taught design. Students pressed us on social issues like health care and food distribution.”
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—Burton Visnick (MArch ’85)
Burt Visnick
Burton Visnick (MArch ’85) was a participant in the 1984 program to Quinghua University in Beijing. Visnick, founding partner of Visnick and Caulfield Architecture and Design, recalls starting out in Hong Kong on a self-tour before heading to the mainland and entering China through the village of Shenzhen. “I recall sitting on sacks of rice as we waited for our guides from Quinghua to find us. On a subsequent trip to Shenzhen in 2004, I was amazed that the village was gone and a Megametropolis had taken its place.” He describes the China of 1984 as a country on the verge of awakening. “Professors wanted to know how our instructors taught design. “Professors Students pressed us on social issues wanted to like health care, food distribution, know how our and actions of our government.” instructors
consulting firm McKinsey & Company predicts they will build 50,000 skyscrapers in China over the next two decades—the equivalent of 10 New York Cities.
School of Architecture students on a trip to the city of Guangzhou in May 1984. View more photos from their trip at z.umn.edu/quinghua. From Ralph Rapson: Sketches and Drawings from Around the World by Ralph Rapson, Afton Press
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n 1981, former School of Architecture head Ralph Rapson sent the first group of architecture students to China. It offered them the unique opportunity to observe, understand, and record challenges faced by the newly industrialized country.
for Chinese and American students. “There aren’t many American schools with dualdegree agreements with China,” said Cheng. “It would allow our students a clear path to gaining a license to practice architecture in China.” She’s confident that regardless of the dual-degree option and the radically different global conditions from early trips to China, many of the goals for substantive exchange remain the same. The School of Architecture is well positioned to expose its students to a global education with longterm professional benefits and world views.
In 2013, the School of Architecture will celebrate its centennial. To learn about opportunities to participate visit arch100.design.umn.edu.
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Left to right: School of Architecture head Renée Cheng, Xinle Wang (M Arch ‘07), and professor of architecture Julia Robinson visiting Shanghai in April 2012. COLLEGE OF DESIGN FALL 2012 7