Nalanda University Design Concept

There is a need for the university to engage with inhabitants from surrounding villages by opening its doors. To ensure ecological and economic sustainability of the region, a large part of the campus is reserved for development and dissemination of information about modern practices in agriculture and biotechnology.
Nalanda University launched its Architectural Design Competition in 2012 for the Master Plan of the campus and architectural design of buildings and facilities that will come up in Phase-1 of its development. The total of 79 entries received were examined by a Selection Committee which declared 8 of them as pre-qualified for participation in the main competition. Five amongst these entries were top international design firms with the likes of Fumihiko Maki and Snøhetta. An international Jury comprising four renowned architects and three members of the Governing Board of the University was constituted to assess the submissions by these eight pre-qualified architects. Since it is the endeavour of the University to develop a sustainable campus which will have a net zero or near zero environmental impact, the first of its kind in the world; special attention was paid to the manner in which each of the schemes addressed the issues of sustainability. Vastu Shilpa Consultants were selected as the winner of this competition.