Integrated educational landscape

In the coming years, five new university campuses will be built in Ivory Coast. This will decentralize education and improve the accessibility of knowledge. One of these campuses will be located in San Pedro, situated within the mountains around the city. The site of 300 hectares is supposed to give room to 20.000 students. The project is commissioned by the federal government, Le Cabinet du Premier Ministre, and is part of ‘Le Programme de Décentralisation des Universités’.

To give maximum effect to the ambitions of the program to share knowledge, the new university is set up as an open campus, instead of a closed institute. The existing landscape conditions are turned into strong drivers for an inspiring and diverse educational landscape. 

Three spatial structures are identified: the hills, planted with trees; the river planes, having dynamic water levels; and the infrastructural network and buildings. These three structures are interwoven, in order to create diverse environments for the different faculties: tourism, farming, marine and construction work. The water is used for small test boats, teaching future sailing men to navigate. New water crop breeds are also tested for future farmers. Along the banks, small restaurants are placed, to educate people how to work in the tourism sector. These restaurants are wooden structures, built by the future construction workers. The design of the campus is loaded with a wide range of functions and uses, similar to this example. It turns the campus landscape into a scenic yet functional realm to learn.