Analysis of principal characteristics of modern university campuses

Introduction. In any society education and science are at the core of social and economic development. Special conditions should be in place to improve the quality of education, make it more attractive, develop science and boost its popularity, get talented young people involved in research activities. One of these conditions is a proper environment for life, education, work and intellectual development. Cases of the largest universities around the world were analyzed to choose the way to arrange the area and infrastructure of an educational institution. The idea is that areas of such universities feature complex spatial arrangement patterns known as “a campus”. According to Presidential Instructions No. Pr-419, by 2030 a network of modern campuses should be created in Russia. The purpose of the study is to identify basic campus arrangement principles, which should serve as the basis for an approach to designing world-class campus spaces and developing management mechanisms of their operation. The identification and formulation of these principles makes it possible to (1) formulate an approach to architectural and spatial solutions, (2) outline requirements for a legal entity to be involved in a campus development project, (3) make a target campus model and identify criteria to benchmark the effectiveness of a campus project.Materials and methods. The authors analyzed 52 campuses located worldwide. The subject of the study was the arrangement of campus space, the search for tools of interaction with the urban environment, and the identification of functional features of a campus. The main research method was information analysis.Results. As a result of analysis of 52 modern universities, 5 principles of campus space arrangement were formulated: the openness of campus space, the hierarchy of space components, the identity of spaces, the use of specialization in architectural solutions, and the use of library spaces as “living rooms”.Conclusions. A study of basic principles of spatial arrangement of modern campuses allows concluding that a new approach to campus spaces has emerged. Campus space arrangement determines a model of interaction between basic processes, the openness or closeness of a university in respect of a city and its requests, and implements the university’s management culture.

campus, university culture, design principles, open campus, global experience, innovative educational environment