U-SoA broadens International and Collaborative Engagement

U-SoA and Tsinghua University expand engagement and collaboration.
U-SoA broadens International and Collaborative Engagement

U-SoA's long and rich history of international engagement expands under Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury's leadership. Evidence of this effort, is the successful collaboration between U-SoA and Tsinghua University (THU) in Beijing. 

The joint design studio, sponsored by Tecnoglass, entitled Puerto Colombia, investigated urban and architectural solutions for the development of Puerto Colombia's expanding core. Collaboration between the two institutions was established in Spring 2017, when students and faculty from THU visited U-SoA to attend an initial design review. The two groups, led by Professors Teofilo Victoria and Adib Cure (U-SoA) and Professor Shan Jun and Associate Professor Zhang Hong (THU), travelled to Puerto Colombia to visit the project site and adjacent cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena, Colombia. 

Final design reviews for U-SoA students took place at the Design District (Miami) on May 2, 2017, and on June 19, 2017, U-SoA Professors Victoria and Cure travelled to Beijing to participate in the final design reviews for THU students. Yizhou Zhao, PHD candidate (THU) and Visiting Scholar (U-SoA), assisted in the coordination of the studio and was in attendance at the final reviews (THU).

In efforts to broaden future collaborative efforts and a greater exchange between the two institutions, an MOU was signed with more joint studios to follow, in the very near future.