In 1954, Professor Yao Zhan, chair of the Civil Engineering Department, designed a grand brick-and-concrete complex at Yunnan University. He arranged the Physics, Biology, and Chemistry buildings in a massive I-shaped layout, with the Physics Building at the centre facing north, the Biology Building on the west flank, and the Chemistry Building on the east. Designed in the Soviet architectural style, the Physics Building rises to four storeys at the centre, while the Biology and Chemistry buildings on either side are three storeys high. Overhead skybridges link these side halls to the central structure.

Yao Zhan specified deep red brick for the exterior walls, topped by steep, high-gabled roofs and high ceilings. Six large white columns rise from the front steps of the side buildings, their capitals featuring简洁 sculptural details. To supply the heavy water demands of the laboratories, Yao Zhan added a seven-storey Clock Tower in 1955, which functioned as a utility water tower. Rising 26 metres to its roof and 30 metres including its steel-frame pinnacle, it became known as "Clock Tower Bathed in Sunset," one of the celebrated views of the campus.

These halls housed generations of scientists. In the 1960s, visiting Soviet experts praised the refined architecture of the Physics Building. Decades later, the red bricks and climbing ivy caught the eye of director Jiang Wen, who used the Physics Building as a key filming location for his 2007 film, The Sun Also Rises.

Today, the complex is a protected municipal cultural relic, having been designated a municipal-level heritage site in 2005 and a市级文物保护单位 in 2011. In autumn, golden leaves from the adjacent Ginkgo Avenue drift onto the retro-style bicycle parking areas. Sunlight filters through the branches, casting long shadows of the white columns onto the ivy-covered red brick. Visitors standing on the skybridges can feel the cool breeze and hear the distant chime of the clock tower, connecting the quiet pursuit of science with the passage of time.