RIYADH: The Federal Chamber of German of Architects (BAK) invited on Sunday on behalf of the city of Berlin Saudi architects and engineers to attend a conference in the German city entitled “Roads to Saudi Arabia” on March 13, 2012, according to the co-head of the 10-member BAK delegation.
The German delegation arrived in Riyadh on Friday and left for Jeddah Sunday night.
“The conference will be in keeping with the agreement between Berlin and Riyadh. Defense Minister Prince Salman, as Riyadh governor, visited Berlin sometime ago, and discussed with his counterpart Mayor Klaus Wowereit the challenges facing the two cities,” architect Cathrin Urbanek told a press conference Saturday night at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel.
The other head of the delegation is Antonius Denz, executive officer for North Africa, Near and Middle East of the German Federal Ministry of Economics. The visit to the Kingdom was jointly organized by AHK Saudi Arabia headed by Andreas Hergenroether and BAK.
Urbanek said that she was upbeat regarding the conference as the Saudi architects and engineers who will attend are members of the Saudi Council of Engineers.
“They will be able to interact with German architects and engineers who are acknowledged in urban design because they are trained in holistic approach,” she said.
“They (have) become specialists in their respective fields. The buildings constructed by German engineers and architects have an impact on the environment. In effect, the buildings last a lifetime.”
The delegation visited on Saturday the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) and the King Fahd National Library (KFNL) in Riyadh and scheduled to also visit the Jeddah Urban Development & Regeneration Company.
“The visits to the ADA and KFNL gave the German engineers and architects a good impression of the possibilities and concepts in Saudi Arabia for the coming years,” Hergenroether said.
The delegation is also scheduled to visit the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), which will be one of the new mega-cities in Saudi Arabia that will provide space for industry, housing and leisure activities to its residents.
This is the third time that the AHK Saudi Arabia and BAK have been able to jointly organize a delegation of German architects and planners to Saudi Arabia.
Source: Arab News, 28.11.2011