“The ADA, whose representatives will leave early next year for Harvard University in the United States, has been requested to give a presentation to School of Design students on the cultural and traditional aspects of the Diriyah project,” the spokesman said.
The ADA team will include Abdullah Hamed Arrukban, director of the Diriyah Development Program, and program architect Abdulamek M. Al-Saleh.
“The ADA team, which is expected to leave sometime in January or February, will not only cover the Diriyah program but will also open opportunities for future collaboration between the ADA and Harvard just like what we have with the University of California at Berkeley,” the spokesman said.
He said the Harvard delegation, which left the Kingdom last Saturday, would start a course based on investment and heritage sites in Diriyah. “They chose the Diriyah project from many models on real estate opportunities that are sustainable with cultural and heritage sites,” he said.
He added that while in the Saudi capital, the team also met with top ADA officials, who included Ibrahim Al-Sultan, ADA president; Tarek Al-Faris, vice president for projects and programs; and Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, vice president for studies and planning
They were also briefed on the Saudi capital’s strategic master plan as well the overall Diriyah strategy.
“At the end of their tour of the Diriyah project as well as the historical Taif neighborhood, they expressed appreciation for what they saw. They also hoped that the ADA delegation would make it to Harvard University for the presentation,” he said.
The Harvard delegation was headed by Richard Peiser, professor of real estate development at the Department of Planning and Design; and Bing Wang, lecturer in urban planning and design and co-director of Master of Design at the Real Estate Program.
