NO.7 • DECEMBER 2008 - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Recent Events
活 動 剪 影
BRE Students Joining Study Tour — Student Accounts
建 築 及 房 地 產 學 系 學 生 參 加 遊 學 團 — 活 動 後 感
Berlin
Seoul
Berlin, the capital of Germany was destroyed seriously during World War
II (WWII) yet has recovered and transformed itself into an international city.
As Germany thinks highly of the conservation of historical buildings and the
implementation of new ideas into them, we feel this to be the way forward
for future property development in Hong Kong. Hence we selected Berlin
as the destination of our study tour.
During our seven-day tour, we visited the local government department,
the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning to investigate the
topic of the development and application of public-private partnership
(PPP). Although the application of PPP in Germany was still in its infancy,
there were some great achievements. We visited Faculty VI of Technische
University Berlin and have discussed with them the topics of the property
market both in Hong Kong and Berlin. We also made presentations to
them based on the topic of the redevelopment achievements in Hong Kong.
Finally, we participated in an exhibition organized by the DENA Agency to
visit three energy-efficient buildings.
After WWII, Germany concentrated on the issues of town planning,
focusing on the rehabilitation of historical monuments. In our study
tour, we visited two monuments, the Reichstag Building and the Kaiser
–Wilhelm –Gedächtniskirche, both of which are excellent examples of
the fusion of ancient and modern styles with minimum destruction to their
original characteristics. The Reichstag Building has retained its outlook but
incorporated modern features, for example, the iconic large glass dome
at the top of the building. The Kaiser –Wilhelm –Gedächtniskirche and the
newly-built neighborhood church have induced an impressive harmonized
effect. With the aid of our tour guide – Debra, we have all learned a lot
about the history and architecture of Germany.
In the previous summer vacation, I have been to
Seoul, Korea with my colleagues. During these
7-days, we had visited two famous Korean
Universities - Hanyang University and Seoul National
University. They presented some of their research on
Korean construction projects to us and provided a
sharing sessionfor discussion.
We also visited the Hyundai Engineering &
Construction Company who enlightened us with
the implementation of advanced technology
in housing as we visited their construction
sites. This enhanced our knowledge of Korean
building technology. Compared to Hong Kongs
construction sites, the environment of the Korean
ones are better. Unfortunately, we encountered a
political demonstration on the trip, thus some of our
destinations were cancelled.
During the preparation stage, we had to face many
problems such as communicating with the Korean
Universities, seeking sponsorship and planning the
schedule etc. As President of the Study Tour, I have
gained valuable experience from the challenges.
I would like to thank my professors and committee
members for their help in the tour because as they
have contributed so much to the trip.
-
Debra
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