Overview

The Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University has ranked amongst the eight most prestigious architecture departments in China. At present, our programs in Architecture, Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, are known as first-class programs and key disciplines in China, as well as the city of Chongqing.

The Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University consists of the Department of Architecture, the Department of Urban Planning, the Department of Landscape Architecture, the Department of Building Technology and the Institute of Architectural History and Theory. Currently, it has more than 1000 undergraduates, over 700 master’s degree students, nearly 200 PhD students, and approximately 40 international students.

The faculty has 202 faculty members, including 168 full-time teachers, 2 foreign teachers, and 34 other technical and teaching assistants. Among them, 96 have senior professional titles.

History

The Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning was initially founded in 1937. In 1952, as part of the institutional adjustment, according to the WG (52) No. 4339 Document of the Department of Culture and Education of the Southwest Military Administrative Committee, the Department of Architecture of the "Chongqing College of Civil Engineering and Architecture" was made up of four architecture departments, including the "Department of Architecture of the former National Chongqing University, the Construction Engineering Discipline of the National Southwest Technical College, the Architecture Discipline of Chengdu Art College, and the Construction Engineering Discipline of South Sichuan Technical College". In May 1954, it was renamed as "the Department of Architecture of Chongqing Institute of Architectural Engineering".

Among the above 4 departments, the oldest one and the only one with an undergraduate program was the "Architecture Group" which was divided from the Department of Civil Engineering of the School of Engineering, Chongqing University in 1937. In autumn of 1940, the Architecture Group was recorganized into the Department of Architecture of the School of Engineering, Chongqing University, with a four-year education system. Chongqing University then became the fourth national university with a department of architecture, after National Central University, Northeast University and Sun Yat-Sen University. Previous directors of the Department of Architecture of the former National Chongqing University included Chen Boqi, a graduate of Technische Universitaet Berlin, Huang Jiahua, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Luo Jingzhong, a graduate of Charleroi Labor University of Belgium and Ye Zhongji, a graduate of the National Central University and Kansas State University. Chengdu Art College was formerly known as Sichuan Provincial Art College, and its architecture discipline started to enroll students in autumn of 1941, with a 5-year education system. The first director was Liu Wenbao, a graduate of the then Beijing Higher Normal School (now Beijing Normal University). The National Southwest Technical College was formerly known as National Central Technical (Vocational) College founded in Nanjing in 1937. Its construction engineering discipline started to enroll students in 1945. Previous directors of the discipline included Xu Zhong, a graduate of National Central University and the University of Illinois, and Huang Baoxun, a graduate of the University of Paris. South Sichuan Technical College was founded after liberation. Previous directors of its construction engineering discipline included Ye Qishen, a graduate of the Department of Architecture of Chongqing University.

Chongqing Institute of Architectural Engineering is the first specialized college of civil engineering in China established as a result of the nationwide institutional adjustment, the only national key university under the Ministry of Construction after reform and opening-up, and one of the "8 top colleges and universities of architecture" in the architecture education community of China. Its Department of Architecture (renamed as the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing Architecture University in 1994), based in southwest China, facing the whole nation and holding an international vision, has gradually developed into one of the departments of architecture that have the longest history, the largest scale, the most diversified disciplines, the most distinct characteristics, and the most complete system of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education, and provide the most brilliant students in China. More than 10,000 students have graduated from the Department over the past more than 80 years, including Xu Shangzhi, Chief Architect of China Southwest Architect, Zeng Naifan, Chief Architect of Sichuan Provincial Architectural and Design Institute Co., Ltd., Zhang Zhifan, President of Chang'an University, Song Rong, Deputy Chief Architect of Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, three National Engineering Survey and Design Masters, Chen Shimin, Zhao Yuanchao and Yang Ying, and tens of provincial engineering survey and design masters, among whom there is Tang Hua, Li Bingqi, Dong Ming, Xu Feng and Huang Jie.

In 2000, Chongqing Architecture University, Chongqing Institute of Architectural Engineering and the then Chongqing University were merged into the now Chongqing University. The School was renamed as the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University, and continues to guide the way of the development of China's architecture education as one of the leading roles.