There are total 8 foreign architecture schools participate in the 2015 Tongji International Construction Festival & 2015 Ablues Design Corrugated Cardboard Design and Construction Competition. They were University of Westminster from UK, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles from France, Pusan National University from Korea, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar from German, Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Hawaii at Manoa from US, University College Dublin from Ireland and McGill University from Canada. For the purpose of getting them feel closer to this city and discover the modern architecture of Shanghai, CAUP organized a Shanghai tour for the 8 foreign architecture schools.

On June 2nd 2015, 43 students and 11 tutors from 8 foreign architecture schools along with 10 volunteers took part in the Shanghai Tour organized by CAUP international office. They visited the Long Museum, the power station of art, Ablues Design Exhibition Corp and Archi-Union Architects.

The first stop is the Long museum at the center of the West Bund Culture Corridor in Binjiang, Xuhui. The main part of the building is a unique umbrella-vaulted structure. Visually, it is in concert with the fashion space, “Hopper Corridor”, which was transformed from the former “Coal Hopper” construction. The unique structure of the Long museum attracts the foreign students and teachers. After the visit of Long Museum, they went to the Power station of Art (PSA). The PSA is renovated from the former Nanshi Power Plant. It provided a rich source of inspirations for the students and teachers from foreign countries with its simple yet straightforward architectural styles. The exhibition ‘piece by piece’ by Renzo Piano inspired all the visitors.

In the afternoon, they visited the Ablues Design Exhibition Corp. Ablues Design Exhibition Corp is led by Tongji Architects and top designers, it is the industry leader of urban planning exhibition hall, it is also the sponsor of the 2015 Tongji International Construction Festival. The pleasant working environment and the digital technology of Ablues Design Exhibition Corp impressed all visitors, One student from University of Hawaii even said he wish he can work here in the future! After the visit, Prof. Zhang Guanzeng and Prof. Wang Kai from Tongji University and a designer from the company gave lectures to the students and teachers from 8 foreign architectural schools.

The last stop of the Shanghai Tour is Archi-Union Architects. It’s located in an old industrial park in Shanghai. The concept of the Silk Wall (the external wall that surrounds the warehouse) and the Tea House (in the backyard of the office) was a practice on low-tech Digital Fabrication. Prof. Yuan Feng from Architecture Department of CAUP introduced the office and had a Q&A Session with all the visitors. The teachers and students from 8 foreign architecture schools were deeply impressed by Prof. Yuan Feng.

The Shanghai Tour is very successful, all the teachers and students from foreign architecture schools had a better knowledge of Shanghai.