On the evening of September 24, the “Introduction to Local Design Practice” course officially started in BUCEA, hosted by the team of CUI Kai, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, National Master of Engineering Survey and Design, Honorary President of China Architecture Design & Research Group, Chief Architect, and Director of Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Urban Design. This marked the beginning of comprehensive enterprise-university-research institute cooperation between CUI Kai’s team and BUCEA, promising deeper engagement of the team with BUCEA in the future in terms of architectural education and talent training in undergraduate, master’s and doctoral studies.

Course: the first time to systemically elaborate on “local design” at universities

Before the lecture started, JIANG Zeting, Secretary, CPC Committee, BUCEA, met with Academician CUI Kai and his team to discuss about future cooperation in teaching, research, and talent training.

The “Introduction to Local Design Practice” course is an important part of the university-industry cooperation between BUCEA’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning and China Architecture Design & Research Group. Thanks to a long time of preparation, the course rolled out in 2021-2022 fall semester. The course was hosted by Professor CUI Kai, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Honorary President of China Architecture Design and Research Group, and Chief Architect, and taught by Academician CUI Kai himself and the architect team from the Local Design and Research Center. In this semester, the course will last from September to November, including 8 sessions.

As the founder and chief architect of the Local Design Research Center of China Architecture Design and Research Group, CUI Kai has actively engaged in the promotion of the development and research of Chinese local architecture, and has published books including  Local Design . Inspired by traditional Chinese architecture and wisdom of life, CUI Kai works hard to innovate Chinese local architecture, and puts forward the creative theory of “local design”.

“Local design” is an architectural design strategy based on natural and human environmental resources. It is a cultural value and the embodiment of “harmony”, which is the core cultural concept dominating today’s Chinese society, in architecture. The course lectures on the theory, practice, and seven strategies of “local design” and provides a systematic explanation on the strategies, methods and patterned language. As an optional course offered for master and doctoral students of architecture, the course will inspire graduate students to reflect on the theory and practice of contemporary Chinese architectural design.

The first lecture on local design