Knowledge Nomad

Based on the needs of urban expansion and the emergence of new technologies and demands, the construction of a vertical campus that integrates residential functions is an exciting concept, aiming to explore the possible development models of hybrid future. In our project, the existing state of knowledge and the living state of families in the future are our most concerned issues. In response to this problem, we take a comprehensive university in China as the observation sample. At the same time, we try to put aside assumptions about the visible future or the distant future, and instead think about the origin of living and learning.

1.Observation of real life samples

Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, provides a good example of how to interpret this abstract question. Most of the campuses in foreign countries are integrated with the city, while China has a tradition of closed universities. Tsinghua University is one of the typical closed campuses in China, which covers an area of about 4.42 square kilometers. There are clear entrances and exits to the campus. Also, the internal roads aren’t open to the outside world. Tsinghua University is one of the world's first-class comprehensive universities with 59 departments. The campus has a complete study and living areas, in addition to student apartments, there are a large number of teachers' apartments, staff and family apartments.

Based on the reality observation of Tsinghua University, we extract two key points for the advancement of the design concept：

1.1 The relativity of public and private

There is no right or wrong distinction between open and closed universities, but for closed universities, the campus is private and the city is public at the urban scale. Under the campus scale, the learning area is public, while the living area is private. Therefore, once the learning and living function is elevated from the plane layout to a complete vertical system, it is private at the plane scale and the city is public. On the vertical scale, the learning area is public and the living area is private, which is similar to the closed university in China.

1.2 The necessity of the combination of live and learn

At the initial stage of our scheme conception, we thought critically about the hybridization of living and learning. What kind of inhabitant can be combined with the learner to maximize the benefits of hybridization? In our opinions, we give the occupants the role of inquisitive people, who choose to live for the purpose of learning. As an ancient Chinese story goes, the mother of Mencius, a Confucian icon, moved three times in order to provide her children with a better educational environment.

2.The origin of residence and study

In our scheme, the deconstruction and reconstruction of the origin of residence and learning is crucial. There are units of measurement for both living and learning. Living in the household and family as a unit, learning in the department or subject knowledge as a unit, which are both closed.

2.1 From sedentary to nomadic

From the view of human history, the end of the nomadic wandering and the beginning of a sedentary life have been the basis for the accelerated progress of human society. However, settling down also means the solidification of the living and learning environment, and the information and knowledge received is largely not chosen by oneself. Moreover, with the development of society, knowledge will be updated faster than we can imagine. So in our vision of a hybrid future, humans need to return briefly from a sedentary state to a "nomadic habitat", constantly traveling in search of knowledge and updating it.

2.2 From formal learning to informal learning

Strict division of departments and strict schedule and time management solidify the creation and transmission of knowledge. Instead of dividing knowledge by departments and disciplines, we extract the spatial prototype of knowledge creation and dissemination in colleges and universities. It could be a classroom, or it could be a desk and chair next to the coffee machine. Therefore, the integration of subjects and the universality of learning can be reflected to the greatest extent.

3.Deconstruction and reconstruction

The meaning of deconstruction is to acquire knowledge freely. We abandoned the house-to-department divide and replaced it with smaller units. Deconstruct residential space into living space prototypes such as stairways, bedrooms, restrooms, kitchens, balconies and natural parts, and form several standardized knowledge space prototypes by learning solution.

In the process of reconstruction, the combination of knowledge space archetypes is taken as the backbone, which is the form generation of knowledge fusion. Due to the diversity and uncertainty of knowledge in the future, knowledge prototype space is randomly organized by computer simulation, replacing the one-sided induction and organization of knowledge with human intention. Secondly, the combination of living space prototype is integrated into it. Each of these archetypal forms of organization of living space may have its place in different situations of knowledge acquisition.Therefore, the living space is attached to the learning space and becomes modular and personalized, in which the nomadic dwelling means the free choice of the scene of knowledge acquisition.

4.Methodological universality

This methodology makes it possible for us to build “Live&Learn Towers” in the future according to local conditions:

Firstly, identify and extract the unique knowledge and living space prototype of the city or region. Secondly, using computer to simulate the possibility of a variety of schemes, the main basis for the selection of schemes is the overall planning of the city, the development of universities, the needs of the group of scholars, etc. Finally, the factory modular mass production, the construction site convenient assembly.