Campus og studiemiljø - Bygningsstyrelsen

The institution as education and research
departments, employer and representatives;
> The academic community, i.e. students,
professors and staff;
> The space of the university, as the habitat
of the university members and its built
manifestation.
The successful development of the university
requires all three parts: institution, academic
community and space.
Each university consists of one or more
locations housing teaching, research, institutional,
administrative and infrastructural
facilities. But the university space 1 is much
bigger than those locations. It encompasses
non-institutional facilities and spaces as
well. What belongs to the ‘campus’ is subject
to the perception of the community and to
the surrounding observers – the city.
The difference begins here: Harvard is a town
within a city. Various locations and spaces
of the university overlap. That determines
the special character of this campus type.
Everything there seems to work perfectly,
seductively inviting one to use it as a general
blueprint for university development.
In Europe, university spaces and locations
do not overlap. Thus, the European campus
is another kind of campus, one that requires
a rather differentiated search into the culture
and identity of the surrounding city/
society and in the collective consciousness
– in combination with research into the
respective university’s history, its institutional
organisation and its academic community.
us: campus before city
The founding of the American university
was an essential part of the colonisation of a
wild country. The first universities were the
frontier of civilisation. Through the founding
of universities, the religious Pilgrim
Fathers attempted to model a better world
and an antipode to the Europe of morally
rotten cities. Institutions like Harvard, Princeton
and Berkeley were there before the
surrounding cities. Education always meant
civilisation and formation of a better man
and society.
tre perspektiver: internationalt / tHree perspeCtives: international
Even today, a fear of the city – of the uncontrollable
– remains strong, exemplified
through the suburbs and gated communities.
American urbanisation means suburbs
in combination with nodes of densification.
The most notable kind of node is the
campus. Distinguished from the environs,
protected, well maintained and without
the need to intermingle with the perilous
surroundings. On campus, brilliant urban
and landscape design and architecture can
be found. This is where the future and the
ideal of the American city are realised. Museums,
theatres, libraries and collections were
founded and remain on campus; research
naturally finds its place here. And down the
road, universities are home to major sports
teams. Fear and monastic idealism have
merged to create the American campus, the
heart of American urbanisation.
europe: university in the city
The idea of ‘university’ is a European concept.
The development of institutions with a
universal approach to knowledge was the expression
of a progress-orientated urban community
with the need for intense exchange
– thus the concept of unity of research and
teaching.
European universities show impressive
historical importance. Common to their development
is that they were founded within
existing urban societies and as a part of the
surrounding city. They represented the ruling
order and contributed to the reputation
of the sovereign.
University and city grew with mutual
influence. Even today, they are tightly connected
through student neighbourhoods
and shared institutions. The city offers museums,
theatres and public libraries, sports
clubs and infrastructure, and the academic
community uses them and becomes active in
them. The European city and university are
unified. While in the US, you study at Harvard
(in the city of Cambridge), in Europe
you study at the University of Frankfurt.
Institution and identity: mass university
versus academic village
The institutional structure of the European
university reflects its main purpose: Staterun,
it is optimised for efficient mass education.
With one professor as the core, ‘chairs’
offer specialised teaching and research.
Departments are weak bodies, self-governed
by the chairs, with the dean as the rotating
(approximately every two years) ‘first
amongst equals’. The central bureaucracy
is strong, administering all funds. In this
system, students have to be independent and
‘grown up’. They shop around for the education
that best fits their personal study goals.
They consider the university as a workplace.
Entering the university is the beginning of
their professional life.
The typical built structure of the European
university is comprised of large inner city
complexes combined with post-war satellite
areas, designed to accommodate the student
masses of the scientific revolution. Universities
have to compete through excellence in
their fields but are always in danger of being
accused of wasting tax money if spending
becomes visible from the outside.
American universities, on the contrary,
form academic villages. “But the founders
were resolute in the collegiate belief that
higher education is fully effective only when
students eat, sleep, study, worship and play
together in a tight community” (Turner,
1984, p. 23). Thomas Jefferson’s design for
the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
shows the ‘Professors’ Houses’ surrounding
the central campus: Here, professors and
students live and work together forming an
academic family and village. These ‘villages’
are governed by a strong dean and managed
by a central administration.
The built structure of this village is important
for carrying its image and ideas. A
tradition of buildings by famous designers
offers landmarks to the outside world and
points of identification for the members of
the academic community. The buildings
express the spirit and the achievements of
the institution.
The housing facilities are one of the most
important components of the American
campus. Most of the venerable buildings surrounding
Harvard yard are undergraduate
dorms – a fact that is very surprising to European
visitors. Far away from their homes
the – in many cases only 17 years old – undergraduates
find a surrogate family in the
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