The faculty of Architecture hosts the first symposium to be held in Syria related to Building Culture as part of the program "Damascus 2008 -Capital of Arab Culture", conducted by the University of Damascus, the Goethe-Institute in Damascus and the gtz (the German Technical Cooperation) Program for Sustainable Urban Development.
Building culture satisfies the public demand for preservation of the national cultural heritage and it meets their urge for participation in creating the built environment. It also expresses the society's longing for modernization and changes. Thus, building culture consolidates all elements of the built and natural environment such as architecture, technical buildings, planned landscapes, urban planning and urban development.
The symposium "Building culture in Syria" aims at strengthening the valuation of the built environment and at helping in raising the awareness for it. It also intends to highlight outstanding achievements in the field of building culture, urban planning and good architecture of the 20th century in Damascus, this is aimed to be gained through addressing experts as well as interested inhabitants, therefore the symposium intends to make the audience more familiar with German and Syrian experiences in the field of building culture.
Through the activities of the event, the University of Damascus guides three consecutive architectural tours on architecture within an urban context, pointing at Damascene architecture in the 20th century in the field of building culture. And then a movie with the title "Shalan"/ directed by Lutfi Lutfi/ is screened in the Faculty of Architecture, followed by a discussion with the director.
In the second day of the Mr. Prof. Dr. Wael Moualla, president of the University of Damascus, opens the photo exhibition to exemplary architecture in the urban context. After this, the symposium "Building culture in Syria - Experiences from Germany" proceeds from 11 am until 4 pm in the Faculty of Architecture, during the symposium famous international expert Mr. Prof. Michael Braum, chairman of the Potsdam-based German Foundation for the Building Culture presents the opening lecture on "Contributions to a discussion on the quality of architecture and urban planning", then Mrs. Prof. Gesine Weinmiller from the Federal Labour Court in Erfurt and Mr. Prof. Ivan Reimann -from the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin- co-lecture on "the role of freelance architects in the field between building culture and public and private sponsors".
These lectures are followed by a penal discussion with the lecturers and Mr. Prof. Dr. Mamoun al-Wareh, dean of the Faculty of Architecture.