Editor’s Note: What lies beyond the blueprint? In his graduation address titled “Architectural Intelligence: The Power of Void,” Prof. CHU Dongzhu, Dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Chongqing University, reflects on Chongqing’s layered skyline to reconsider the essence of space. Moving beyond physical structures, Chu argues that true innovation lies not in what is built, but in the “void”—an intangible toolkit of empathy, critical awareness, and creative methodology needed to navigate an uncertain future. As the Class of 2026 steps into a new era, his speech reframes emptiness as a source of architectural inspiration and imagination. The following is the full text of the address.
Dear graduates, your beloved parents, family members, friends, and respected faculty,
Good afternoon!
First off, on behalf of our school, I want to extend my warmest congratulations to every member of the Class of 2026—each of you who has put in relentless effort to cross this critical academic milestone.
Once you wrap up all graduation formalities, your identity will quietly shift from “current student” to “alumnus/alumna of Chongqing University.” You will join tens of thousands of graduates nurtured by this school to become participants, builders, and co-beneficiaries of China’s development. You are stepping into a brand-new chapter of life, a fresh SPACE where you will keep growing and evolving.
The concept of “SPACE” is second nature to all of us in this school. Most of you, much like me, memorized this passage back when you were freshmen:
We mold clay to make a vessel; its usefulness lies in the empty space within. We carve doors and windows to build a house; its purpose comes from the void inside.
This excerpt comes from Chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching, a foundational philosophical text taught in architecture classes to help us grasp the essence of space. Some legendary Western architects, Frank Lloyd Wright included, drew profound inspiration from this ancient Chinese classic.
Prof. Chu Dongzhu delivered the speech at the 2026 Graduation Ceremony.（Photo provided by CQU）
But these lines are far more than just a lesson about physical space. Let us look at the surrounding chapters to uncover their full meaning.
The preceding Chapter 10 asks: Can you harmonize your spirit and body without parting them? Can you cultivate soft vital energy to match the innocence of an infant?
The chapters that follow hold equally vital truths: Chapter 12 warns that excessive colors blind the eyes, overwhelming music dulls the ears. Chapter 13 reminds us to treat honor and disgrace with equal calm, and to regard our own lives as the foundation of all great worries. It concludes: If you cherish yourself as deeply as you cherish the world, you may be entrusted with the world’s governance; if you love yourself as fiercely as you love all under heaven, you may be tasked with caring for it.
Taken together, these four chapters revolve around these core ideas: unity of body and soul, utility born from emptiness, choosing moderation over excess, equanimity through glory and hardship, and bearing responsibility for all under heaven. In just a few hundred words, they span the full spectrum of human experience—from the individual self to physical space, from our immediate surroundings to the entire world. This embodies the traditional Chinese conception of "All Under Heaven": staying true to your original aspiration in self-cultivation, treating fellow countrymen with goodwill, upholding reverence for nature, and shouldering the mission for one’s homeland and nation.
In Chinese culture, the phrase “All Under Heaven” never merely refers to geographical territory. It stands for a shared community of fate, woven together by the lives of countless ordinary people. Rewind to 1937: war raged across the country, and our homeland faced ruin. It was amid this crisis that architectural education at Chongqing University took root. Our school has traveled 90 years of ups and downs, moving from nothing to something, then redefining emptiness from solid form. Through every era, our faculty, students, and alumni have stepped into the grand work of building our nation, in countless roles and countless ways. Generation after generation of Chongqing University architects have turned conceptual blueprints into tangible reality, and distant visions into everyday life.
This unique founding moment, paired with the distinctive urban landscape of Chongqing, has forged a shared core identity within all of us: patriotism, resilience, pragmatism, innovation, and optimism. We dare to face tough problems, break rigid, outdated rules, and welcome every new challenge—with a hint of free-spirited ease and quiet stubbornness in our bones.
The fates of individuals and our nation are inseparable. Our collective mission has always been crystal clear. Today, the tangible “being” of our cities—the built containers and structural frameworks—have matured and stabilized. Yet the intangible “void” of cities—the cultural content and vibrant life within them—remains endlessly creative and ever-changing. This dual understanding anchors the core wisdom of the entire built environment discipline.
We live in an age of constant transformation, where no body of knowledge is immune to obsolescence. Moving forward, no professional task you take on will ever be a simple repeat of classroom coursework. New assignments will always bring unprecedented problems and unfamiliar formats. The Five Major Shifts in urban development mean much of the knowledge and problem-solving methods you learned in school will need rapid updating.
So what meaning does a graduation diploma hold in the face of an unpredictable future?
Your diploma, your physical design drawings, your tangible thesis papers—these are your tangible “being.” The intangible “void,” however, is the unwritten wisdom, critical awareness, and creative methodologies no certificate can capture. This includes, but is never limited to: far-reaching vision, environmental literacy, sharp problem insight, social empathy, human-centered analysis, cultural heritage stewardship, innovative design thinking, systematic planning frameworks, spatial imagination, material sensibility, public engagement skills, and forward impact forecasting. All of these competencies and virtues were nurtured, shaped, refined, and polished within your design studios, academic research, and the surreal, layered urban spaces of this mountain city.
These capabilities already reside within you, almost like a quiet magic—many of you may not even fully recognize their power. This is the truth of “utility born from emptiness.” Down the line, when you confront a seemingly unfamiliar project, the set of skills you built here will activate instinctively. Once awakened, this magic will deliver far more than a set of construction drawings, a research paper, or a planning report. What it accomplishes ultimately depends on each of you—the ones who wield this powerful toolkit. Trust yourselves, and trust our school: this nearly 90-year-old institution is your academy of Architectural Magic.
Combined, these intangible strengths form the Intelligence of Architecture. Architecture has never been limited to designing standalone buildings. Back in 1977, Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language infused humanistic logic into computer science. His famous line, “A City Is Not A Tree,” written in 1965, hangs above the workstations of countless software engineers, forming the foundational logic behind graphical user interfaces, database architecture, and even social media networks.
In the years ahead, architectural wisdom will be your greatest asset—a one-of-a-kind “AI” we call Architectural Intelligence. Let us place greater faith in this distinct intelligence, invest endless hours honing it, and apply it to every field we touch. Cultivated and deployed well, it will accompany you for decades to come. This is the unique strength and competitive edge this profession grants you.
That is why I hold unwavering faith in all your futures.
Thank you all!