CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

ISLAND OF CYPRUS

Located on the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean, CIU serves a diverse student population from over 64 countries. To support the school's considerable growth and expansion since its founding in 1997, Didier Design Studio was selected to create an overall campus masterplan. Subsequent phases of work with CIU followed, including the design of several distinct spaces to further ground the campus within its regional context, and to enhance the sense of place and identity unique to this international university on the beautiful island of Cyprus.

The masterplan identifies a framework of four major landscape zones based upon levels of activity and types of use. The zones reference four distinct landscape typologies: Garrique, Agrarian, Campus Green, and Garden. Borrowing from broader contextual landscapes in the region, these zones provide an overall campus organization and hierarchy, assist with wayfinding, provide visual diversity, and aid future planning decisions. Each landscape zone is informed by topography to make efficient use of stormwater for irrigation, highlighting local flora grouped according to water requirement and availability. In addition to the overall campus masterplan, we crafted several distinct spaces within, including: an entry monument and roadway, a series of sculptural planted berms to buffer the campus edge and create a sense or arrival, an intimate maquis garden for a residence hall, a network of paths to navigate an existing pine grove, multiple plaza and garden areas linked by a social promenade, and a pronounced gateway at a significant campus threshold. The outcome is a transformation from a fairly undefined space to an engaging ground with a true sense of place: a landscape of identity for students, faculty, staff and parents.