Promotion: talks given by 13 deans and heads of department from major architecture schools at the Global Dean's Forum hosted by Shanghai's Tongji University are now available to stream online.

Themed Design Education in a Transformational World, the forum took place on 15 December 2022 as part of the 70th-anniversary celebrations for Tongji University's College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP).

The talks were given by leading design experts

Deans and professors from across Asia, Europe and North and South America shared their perspectives on the future of higher education across the day's two sessions, one hosted by Tongji University's architecture department head Rossana Hu and the other by the college's vice dean Wang Lan.

The first session started with a speech titled Relevance by Sarah M Whiting, who is dean of architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design and is interested in architecture's relationship with politics, economics and society.

She was followed by Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation dean Andrés Jaque, who is also the founder of the New York- and Madrid-based architecture practice Office for Political Innovation (OFFPOLINN), then UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design dean Renee Chow, who spoke on the future of environmental design.

The session continued with Yale University School of Architecture dean Deborah Berke, China Academy of Art School of Architecture dean Wang Shu, who is also China's first Pritzker Prize winner, speaking on experimenting with going "back to the way of nature" and CAUP dean Li Xiang Ning speaking about lessons from Shanghai.

It closed with a talk from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Faculty of Architecture dean Mario Ubilla Sanz.

The afternoon session opened with Polytechnic University of Milan's Andrea Campioli, who gave a wide-ranging speech on "perspectives for the education of new architects, urban planners, landscape architects, planners and building engineers".

It continued with speeches by Technical University of Berlin Faculty of Planning Building Environment vice dean Angela Million and Kyushu University Faculty of Human-Environment Studies professor Akihito Ozaki, who spoke on cooperative education and fostering sustainable development.

The session also featured IUAV University of Venice rector Benno Albrecht, who is also the principal investigator on urban issues for the World Bank's Building for Peace programme; the University of Sheffield Department of Landscape Architecture head Helen Woolley, who specialises in public use of green and open spaces; and Technical University of Madrid Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid dean Manuel Blanco.

The sessions also featured appearances by Hu's Neri&Hu partner Lyndon Neri and CAUP vice dean Phillip Feng Yuan.

The event was the second Global Dean's Forum convened by CAUP, which is one of the leading architecture schools in China and made history for running its first architecture masters, doctoral and postdoctoral programmes.

The school prides itself on its dedication to openness and international engagement. It was founded in 1952 on a foundation of historic ties with Germany and an orientation towards European modernism, with founding professors coming from leading design schools internationally.

Its 70th-anniversary programme has also included a new lecture series and courses, symposiums, exhibitions and publications, as well as the announcement of new visiting professors and other appointments.

For more information, visit the CAUP website.

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