Fuzhou University Landscape and Cultural Heritage Plan

福州大学

Fuzhou, China | 2005 (master plan) | 6.45 square kilometers

Collaboration Ron Henderson Tsinghua Urban Planning and Design Institute: Hu Jie, Wu Yixia, Betsy Damon, Environmental Artist

Trees (10,000) + mountain forest restoration estimated (70,000)

Fuzhou University was founded in 1958 and was one of the national key universities selected for the 211 Project, a Chinese government program for the 21st century to support 100 selected universities. As part of this initiative, Fuzhou University founded a new campus to replace the former campus which was constrained by urban development. The new campus educates over 25,000 students. The Landscape Plan, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and the Office of the President of Fuzhou University, augments the former Campus Master Plan (by others) by conserving mountains and agricultural terraces that were being destroyed, re-connecting regional water flows, enhancing student life, and establishing a rich array of designed and heritage landscapes.

The campus is in a level outwash plain of the Min River watershed. A chain of hills, the tallest of which is 90 meters tall, occupy the southern half of the campus and stretch along a SW to NE axis. Taller mountains ring the campus to the West and North. The master plan exploits the traditional merits of “mountains and water” by orienting views in the entrance sequences to frame these landscape features. In addition, new plans for the president’s office complex and the aquatics center situate these programs in the area where hills and natural water patterns are preserved in the Master Plan.