CELAP Univercity | Bechu + Associés

The design of the Chinese Elite School of Pudong (China Executive Leadership Academy of Pudong - CELAP), Shanghai, China, was an exceptional experience in terms of scope, program and meeting.

Complex specifications and a 25-month deadline defined the framework for the construction of an 80-hectare campus, from the sketch to the inauguration, and submitted to an international architectural competition in 2 phases in which 17 other renowned international architectural firms.

Our winning project captured the interest of the Dean of the University and the future President of the Party, with its bold and contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional table for teaching calligraphy and red lacquer paint. Seen from above and as a whole, the 300 meter long “table” represents the Chinese pictogram of the number one, and finds at its end a garden of the elements. This building houses the Institute of Advanced Studies in Business Administration of the Nation. Seen from inside the campus gardens, only the sculptural legs of the “table” and other free forms stand out and embody stability and movement.

Photographer: Fernando Javier Urquijo