World-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind last week brought a message of hope and optimism to Belfast when he visited the city to deliver a keynote address at the launch of the University of Ulster’s Real Estate Initiative. The event was attended by 4 Weber Shandwick, Northern Ireland staff.
The award-winning New York based-architect said: ‘I was here some years ago, and I want to tell you I’m so impressed by the amazing change and transformation in this part of Ireland, and what peace has brought - the spirit of development, the spirit of optimism’.
Over 1700 people packed Belfast’s Waterfront Hall last night to hear Mr Libeskind, the architect of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, and master planner for the Ground Zero site in Manhattan give a compelling and inspirational presentation of his landmark international buildings.
The University of Ulster Real Estate Initiative brings together key players in the real estate sector – industry leaders, major property developers, contractors and financial service providers from all over Ireland - to support a £2.5m research programme targeted at enhancing the quality and practice of urban development, construction and urban design.
The University of Ulster Real Estate Initiative is the first of its kind in Ireland, and is based on a successful model developed by Harvard University. Its objectives are to:
• promote leading-edge areas of research in real estate investment, urban development and design with direct benefits for professional practice, policy formulation and educational programmes;
• encourage engagement by academic, business and public policy decision-makers, in order to foster academic-private-public partnership;
• provide a discussion forum for developers, planners and other stakeholders in order to inform policy formulation;
• facilitate learning through workshops and executive education programmes for the real estate investment and urban development sector;
• establish a multi-disciplinary research programme in the University of Ulster on issues relevant to the sector.
For further information please contact Chris Brown at chbrown@webershandwick.com