DIFA AWARD 2004 Jury Member Profiles
DIFA AWARD 2004 Jury Member Profiles
Dr. Frank Billand
is a member of the Management Board of Hamburg-based DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG. Part of the Union Investment Group, DIFA specialises in open-ended real estate funds for private and institutional investors within the FinanzVerbund der Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken group. After training as a bank clerk and completing his studies in economics and foreign trade policy, Dr. Billand worked for Hochtief AG in Essen and from 1989 played a crucial role in setting up the company’s real estate project development arm (later to become Hochtief Projektentwicklung GmbH). Before joining the DIFA Management Board he was spokesperson for the Hochtief Development division and in charge of many major development projects both in Germany and abroad. As a member of the DIFA Management Board, Dr. Billand is responsible for real estate acquisitions and sales in Germany, project development, construction and more.
Prof. Hartmut Häußermann
is Professor of Urban and Regional Sociology at Berlin’s Humboldt University. He was head of the Institute of Social Services there for several years and has also been Dean of the Faculty of Arts III. Alongside his teaching career, which began 25 years ago in the Department of Architecture, City and Landscape Planning at the University of Kassel, he is also the author of works on urban development, new urbanism and housing sociology. Among other professional bodies, Professor Häußermann is a member of the German division of the Regional Science Association and the German Academy for Environmental and Regional Planning. As co-editor/editorial committee member of numerous journals and yearbooks, he contributes regularly to the public debate on the future of the city.
Margrit Hilmer
has been curator of Berlin Cathedral since 1997 and is responsible for managing this outstanding place of worship in Berlin’s museum quarter, and for its budget. In charge of day-to-day administration, her aim is to create an inviting and lively church in the heart of the capital. Before becoming cathedral curator Ms Hilmer, a Berliner by birth, previously worked as a property manager in the private sector and ran her own architect’s office.
Helmut Jahn
was named one of the ten most influential living American architects in 1991 by the American Institute of Architects. The German-born US architect studied at Munich’s technical university and has been President and CEO of leading Chicago-based architectural firm Murphy/Jahn since 1983. Jahn’s skyscraper designs have been described as romantically post-modern and his very personal architectural style has helped shape the skylines of Chicago, New York and Singapore. His work in Germany, including the Frankfurt Messeturm, the Munich Airport Center, the Sony Center and the Neues Kranzler Eck development in Berlin, has made Jahn one of the most respected architects in the western world. Since 1975 the architect has received over 100 international and national awards.
Dr. Reinhard Kutscher
has been a member of the Management Board of Hamburg-based DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG since 1999. After graduating in law, Dr. Kutscher completed a traineeship at Deutsche Bank and from 1984 his responsibilities at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt included developing and managing commercial real estate both in and outside Germany. For eight years before moving to DIFA he managed Deutsche Grundbesitz-Investmentgesellschaft mbH, the Deutsche Bank capital investment company for open-ended real estate funds. At DIFA, Dr. Kutscher’s responsibilities include business outside Germany, cost control, risk management and finance.
Prof. Marcin Orawiec
has taught constructive design at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences since 1994. He lectures on specific aspects of building construction and integral planning solutions. Professor Orawiec studied architecture and art in Poland and after graduating worked at the Cologne office of Professor Joachim Schürmann for six years. He has been a freelance architect since 1989 and in 1996 set up Aachen-based OX2architekten, which specialises in architecture, urban development and communication, together with the architect Ina-Marie Orawiec. Professor Orawiec helps shape public debate on the future of modern urban development at international events and by sitting on juries for prestigious competitions.
Peter Wynne Rees
was born in Swansea, UK and has been City Planning Officer for the Corporation of London since 1987. His responsibilities include supervising building projects and planning procedures, and as head of the Planning & Transportation Department he deals with developers on major construction projects in the City of London. Rees trained as an architect primarily at the Bartlett School of Architecture (University College London) and the Welsh School of Architecture (University of Wales). Key roles prior to joining the Corporation of London included several years as an architect for the Department for the Environment and developing and revitalising the London Borough of Lambeth as Deputy Chief Planning Officer from 1979 to 1985. He is a member of several specialist bodies such as the British Council for Offices and the London Office Review Panel and has also earned a reputation as a town planning expert outside the UK as a result of numerous lectures at European universities.
Prof. Albert Speer
was Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Kaiserslautern for 25 years and is one of the most important figures in German town planning. Now based in Frankfurt, Speer coined the term “intelligent city” and has long advocated reversing the depopulation and neglect of city centres. In 1972 he received his first big architectural commission from the DG BANK in Frankfurt/Main. Today Speer’s name is linked with major projects, such as EXPO 2000 in Hanover, which have had a sustained impact on our cities and landscapes. Established in 1964, the Albert Speer & Partner practice now employs around 100 architects and urban, transport and regional planners. Current AS&P projects include the urban planning, preparation, coordination and implementation of the selection process for Munich’s new stadium and the International Automobile City in Anting near Shanghai.
Christiane Thalgott
is a senior, elected urban planning official for the City of Munich and heads up the Department of City Planning and Building Regulations. Responsible for urban (re)development and planning, promoting residential construction and granting planning permission, she has been committed to creating and maintaining a better quality of life and social balance in Munich since 1992. Under her leadership the city has worked on an urban development plan “Perspektive Munich” focusing on “compact, urban, green” objectives. A trained architect, Thalgott held a similar position in Kassel from 1987-1992 and before that worked as a town planner in Norderstedt. Christiane Thalgott is a member of the committee of the German Institute of Urban Affairs (DIFU) and lectures at Munich’s technical university.
Jürgen Ulrich
is City Manager in Cologne, a role which involves helping to make the city an attractive environment for business, retailers, residents and tourists alike. His duties include developing ideas to market the city, as well as planning and organising events to boost the city’s appeal. From 1996 to 2001 Ulrich was a director of City-Marketing Köln e.V. He is the author and co-author of numerous marketing checklists and also offers marketing training and seminars on event management.
Prof. Jörn Walter
was elected director of Hamburg’s City Building Department in December 1998. In this capacity he is responsible for all the major town planning and architectural issues affecting the city. He is therefore in overall charge of the planning side of Hamburg’s most ambitious urban development project to date – the HafenCity. After studying development planning and training as a town planner he managed the Office for Urban Development and the Environment in the town of Maintal (Hesse) from 1985 to 1991. Since 2001 Walter has held a professorship at Hamburg College of Art. Before that he lectured in town planning design at technical universities in Vienna and Dresden. Professor Walter is also a member of the German Academy for Town and Regional Planning, and the Berlin-Brandenburg and Saxon academies of art.
Dr. Irene Wiese-von Ofen
is President of the International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) headquartered in The Hague. After completing a PhD in the faculty of town planning at Aachen University of Technology she held teaching posts at Stuttgart’s technical university and the University of Essen alongside her other professional activities. She went on to become the head of Essen’s building and planning department. Her responsibilities for structural and civil engineering within the city of Essen primarily covered city centre planning und urban regeneration, as well as higher education and general transport planning. Dr. Wiese-von Ofen runs her own consultancy specialising in architecture, town planning and urban redevelopment and is also acting chairperson of the development planning committee attached to the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing. In recognition of her exemplary voluntary work in support of women’s rights she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997.
Prof. Peter Zellmann
has been the academic and administrative head of the Institute for Applied Leisure Studies in Vienna since 1987. The focus of his research is on the areas of leisure, sport, tourism and the future. The institute, a research body supported by the Ludwig Boltzmann Association, has successfully collaborated on Austro-German projects with the Hamburg-based B.A.T. Leisure Research Institute run by Professor Horst Opaschowski for many years. Professor Zellmann teaches leisure theory at the State College of Education in Vienna and lectures at several other colleges and universities. In his publications and speeches, the trained teacher and psychologist addresses issues relating to future lifestyles at work and play, as well as leisure and tourism.
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