Business in Shanghai is driving economic growth, as epitomized by the Pudong district’s ever-expanding cluster of skyscrapers. Its latest architectural addition is the China Executive Leadership Academy, Pudong (CELAP), which opened in January.

Architects Anthony Bechu and Tom Sheehan say the design is inspired by the traditional Chinese association with the color red and by elements of Confucianism.

The low lines of the campus are in direct contrast to the excesses of Shanghai’s skyline. “It’s a city that’s measured by its vertical dimension,” says Sheenan. “Our desire was to make a new urbanism on the site and to add an horizontal dimension to the city. The big idea here was to make a counterpoint to these high rise buildings.”

In Chinese culture the red table is where the master teaches the student — something reflected in the architecture of the main building, which features a bright red overhanging roof. “The red table symbolizes the government and the nation, the national dimension. It’s covering what is the institution,” says Sheenan.

Via archinect CNN.