‘What Holland Can Offer’: Samuel van Embden and the Knowledge Exchange on University Campus Designs, 1947–1976

This paper is a report on the initial research on the global practice of university campus design by architect and planner Samuel van Embden (1904–2000). It outlines the first findings on the influence of Dutch expertise in planning and architecture as an export product and raises questions for further investigation. Following WWII and the independence of the colonies of the Western countries, a foreign-aid-funded practice of university planning in the so-called developing countries was established. Within this context, numerous projects and remarkable examples of modern architecture were realised in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. These projects are important not only for their political and historical context but also for their outstanding architectural quality. Amongst others, the University City of Caracas in Venezuela and the Central University Campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico are named UNESCO World Heritage. Additionally, the Middle East Technical University Campus in Turkey, the Ile-Ife Campus of Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and the Chandigarh University Campus in India have been acknowledged for their quality by the Keeping It Modern initiative by Getty Research Institute.