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Difference between German and Hong Kong studio

When I exchange to Germany, I picked European Studies as my major instead of my original curriculum. Instead of mainly taking lecture, lessons are conducted in tutorials. There are more interaction between professors and students. The relationship between professors and students is close. Professors will make jokes and students will dare to point out that professors are talking too loud.

Some other courses that I took include economic politics and law. Assessment usually comes in form of essay and the curriculum is rather simple and factual. For example, Law exams are sometimes conducted in multiple choices. Overall the workload is not heavy.

Le Corbusier in Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart 05

Students spend most of the time outdoor after lesson. The classrooms have balconies for students to smoke or catch a breath. The canteen is positioned outdoor as well. It has a belt to recycle and recover the used utensils.

Local people prefer to commute with bicycle. When you ride your bicycles and pass some residence, the people will greet you at their window. The drivers in Germany have great manners and will never get mad at other users even though you are driving slowly or

blocking the road. People are generally very polite. For example, when you queue up to check out in supermarket, they will let you checkout first if you have fewer items.

The people in Germany have work-life balance. Shops will close and staffs will off duty on time. Many public services required appointment and well organized. People are willing to communicate with English as well.

Cultural difference

I have visited plenty of cities in Germany. Berlin is heavily damaged during World War II and many new buildings are erected. They also restored old buildings with original plans. However, they have a church that was kept in its destroyed state to remind the people the consequence of war. The city is a mix of modern and classical.

Dresden is another interesting city in which baroque and rococo style artchitecture are found. I have visited a military history museum in a classical building. Since the city is situated in East German, it is relatively underdeveloped in communist style.

it is relatively underdeveloped under cmmunisim.

Stuttgart , on the other hand, is rather hilly. It has a few car museums of famous brands , such as Porsche and Audi. Weissenhof Estate is also located there. It was an international showcase of what later became known as the International style of modern architecture. The estate was built for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition of 1927, and included twenty-one buildings comprising sixty dwellings, designed by seventeen European architects, including Le Corbusier.

Travelling experience

Bundeswehr museum of military history in Dresden

Le Corbusier in Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart 06

Meals in Germany are mainly meat oriented. They are of big portions and relatively cheap. I remember ordering a Pork Knuckle for 9 euros with size enough for a family. Beers are regularly served in 1 Litre. In Munich, there is a Beer hall of 3 to 4 stories , with each floor able to cater a thousand people. Meals from Middle East and also Turkish can easily be found as well.

Accommodation is cheap compared to Hong Kong. The house I lived has a big yard. Most town houses are of 3 stories and spacious. Privacy is valued greatly and even exchange students have a room of their own.

The exchange has a significant impact to me. It inspired me to leave Hong Kong to work or study master in the future. I have been looking for an intern position in European Union. Before, my vision is limited in Hong Kong. Actually Germany welcomes talented people to work there for its vast industries. I am likely to study or work in there in future.

I also have a new view towards the European Union. I believe that the organization is doomed to fail. This is due to the cultural diversity of various countries. Each country has different consumption pattern and living standard. Greece is a good example. Another reason is that the Union is built for the wellbeing of people instead of its economy. They have standard working hours, advanced infrastructure and welfare. In short, I think Europe is a good place to live and work but not exactly a good place to earn big money.

Catering and accomadation in Germany

Inspiration

Semperoper in Dresden

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Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart

Semperoper in Dresden

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Difference between Spanish and Hong Kong studio

The LE University is situated in the city of Segovia, an historical town famous for stone architecture under Roman influence. It is a declared World Heritage by UNESCO. The school building for architecture students is around sixty to eighty years old.

Instead of white plaster walls we have in Knowles Building, they have an underground studio. Originally a vault, the studio is made with red brick and stones supported by arcs.

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Toledo, Spain

The whole architecture department only consists of sixty students. Students there don’t have individual working desk, instead, they share the studio area together. Including studio lessons, a total of eight courses are required to be taken every semester. The courses are much more intense, with each course having at least four hours every day.

The workload of a month is like an entire semester. This is because in Spain, students finish their course for the first half of the year and spend the rest of the year on internship. Since one of the professors is one of the judges for Pritzker architecture prize, with his connection, most students there can find a decent internship positions. In fact, the job opportunity and internship rate of the students there is the most outstanding in Spain,

Cultural difference

People in Spain take siesta, which is actually a lunch nap. They usually sleep after their lunch, from 2 pm to around 5 pm. Most shops will close at 2pm and reopen at six, so sometimes I had to wait for hours before I can buy ingredients to cook for dinner. Most shops close at around 9 at night.

Also, I thought Spanish students are probably more relaxed, but turns out they also have the habit of working through the night like us.

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Architecture by Antoni Gaudi

Inspiration

I haven’t been travelling a lot due to the workload, but I did go to Toledo, another historical city. In fact, Spain had been a separated state in the past, and its architecture language is influenced by North African Mudéjar, Jews and even Islam. The city has great richness in its culture. I have encountered a building with the outlook of mosque but the interior is like any typical cathedral.

On one hand, I am astonished by the architecture hybrid due to the variety of culture there. Despite having distinct characteristics between different architecture styles, they were able to stay in harmony when arranged in the same city. On the other hand, architects like Gaudi do architecture in a parametric and physical way. Sometimes, I feel like the form of architecture created by him is not from his time.

Catering

Another thing that was out of my expectation is that Spanish have their dinner at around 10 at night. Restaurants will only serve snacks and alcohol before that. The snacks are sometimes sardine, and if lucky fried squid. Spanish food includes a wide variety of animal intestines, which I didn’t find very appealing. Like Chinese, Spanish usually have food for sharing, such as seafood rice, instead of having courses like French cuisine.

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ATHLETICSOn 25 November, 2014 Architectural Society encountered the Engineering Society in the Inter-faculty female badminton champ fight. After four exciting matches, we

claimed victory with the score of 3:1. This decisive victory grants our society another Championship flag. We congratulate and thank all players for their outstanding

performance that day!

COME ON ARCHI!COME ON ARCHI!COME ON ARCHI!

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Inter-faculty Women Badminton

Championship

COME ON ARCHI!COME ON ARCHI!COME ON ARCHI!

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SurfaceIn Hong Kong, it is a merely a common thing to acquire new furniture and set up their own warm home. However, to Pakistani living Hong Kong, this is already a luxury.According to census made in 2011, among the ethnic minorities, the poorest people are of Pakistani descent, with the median monthly income is more than twelve thousand three hundred dollars. This is even lower than the figures of our overall poverty line. Due to the family concept Pakistani community, it is not rare to find five to six kids at home sharing a same desk.

A group of students from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong visited Kwai Chung - Hong Kong a Pakistanis living area and contact the five Pakistani families in need. From initial contact and design of furniture, to grounding wood, cutting board and involving in the production, tailor-made furniture are made for every family, in hope to give to the community with their expertise at school.

This project jointly co-organized by the Architecture Society of the University of Hong Kong, Beyond the Wall and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre, and supported by Woodrite.

700.0

300.0

50.050.0

900.0

16.0

700.0734.0

400.0 480.0700.0

800.0

736.0

208.0

206.0

238.7

34.0

32.048.0

Design concept from students (left) , Family site visit (right)

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Surface

From design to final product 18

RecapIt has been a fruitful and exciting year for Cohaesio!

Let's take a quick look at all the events!

Annual High Table Dinner Tesla

開工大

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開工大

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吉