In the late 1960s and early 70s, many universities in Europe were designed and built using a system-oriented approach. This paper examines the specific case of the Instituto Politécnico Superior de Valencia on the basis of the documents and drawings for the scheme design competition and the production information by L35 Arquitectos, an architectural firm in Barcelona. The analysis addresses the university as an organised whole resulting from the interaction of a functional system, a construction system and an urban system.