Summary of SB14 Barcelona & iiSBE AGM (Part: 5)
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On October 29, 2014, Chan Mo-po from the Secretary for Development, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong and Former President of World Watch Institute, Robert Engelman, presented speeches on the topic of “Is sustainability still possible? The role of the building sector”, followed by 36 oral sessions and the poster session between 11:30 and 12:00. In the afternoon, there were also 36 oral sessions and the poster session was held between 16:30 and 17:00. Before the end of the meeting, Firdaous Oussidhoum from Africa Union of Architects in Morocco, Prashant Kapoor from the World Bank Group and Julian Salas from Superior Council for Scientific Research were invited to present speeches on “Sustainable building and communities”.  The cultural survey team headed to Teatro-Museo Dali and Palau Guell. The former is located some 130km north of Barcelona in Figueres, the hometown of Dali, the Spanish maestro of surrealism. In 1974, Dali converted the old theatre in his hometown into the Teatro-Museo Dali over 13 years; he also treated the museum as a work of art, not just a space for exhibiting artworks, therefore visitors are able to appreciate the world of Dali starting from the moment they join the queue to purchase the admission tickets. Inside the museum, the Rainy Cadillac, Dali’s studio, cemetery, Mae West Hall and Palau del Vent must be appreciated in all of their glory. As for the origin of Palau Guell, Eusebi Guell, who admired Gaudi tremendously, hired him to design one of his mansions in order to keep his family business afloat. Eusebi Guell did not place a restriction on budget or time in order to enable Gaudi to unleash all of his creativity. The apartment took 6 years to construct, spanning from 1886 to 1891, and almost exhausting Eusebi Guell’s entire life savings; on the contrary, the project catapulted Gaudi to prominence. The wrought iron gates of Palau Guell with the Catalan coat of arms signify its majestic demeanor, while the roof decorated in 20 colorful chimneys are paved in vibrant mosaic tiles that glitter like the kaleidoscope under the sun. The Gala dinner was held at the Palau de Pedralbes on Av. Diagonal, which is a stone’s throw away from where the meeting was held. Team members who participated in the gala dinner took the opportunity to share and exchange experiences on sustainable buildings with foreign scholars and experts; they also left contact details with one another. During the gala dinner, the organizer announced that the SB17 will be held in Hong Kong in 2017, and the SB17 organizers also invited everyone to meet in Hong Kong in 2017.In the morning of October 30, 2014, the President of US Green Building Council Roger Platt and UNEP/DTIE representative Arab Habollah presented speeches on the topic of “Global sustainable economy and sustainable building”, followed by 36 oral sessions and the poster session between 11:30 and 12:00. In the afternoon, Marzena Rogalska from the European Commission, Curt Garrigan from UNEP/SBCI, Canada GBC’s Thomas Mueller and Keith Hampson from the Sustainable Built Environment Research Center, Australia presented speeches on “Economy, innovation and sustainable building”. The closing ceremony was held immediately after the speeches. Considering the survey team had already booked seats on the 18:00 Alta Velocidad Espanola (AVE) bound for Madrid, they reluctantly forfeited the opportunity to attend the closing ceremony. |
