London, 2013-Aug-28
"The 100,000th visitor to the Crystal was Eliska Bejrova, on holiday from the Czech Republic visiting her sister Jarka who lives in London. They were presented with a glass trophy and a bottle of sustainable Champagne" (Pictured left to right: Josh Palmer, Operations Manager, the Crystal, Eliska, Jarka, Martin Powell, Head of Urban Development, Siemens)
• Urban development centre well-established as global thought-leadership hub
on sustainable urbanization
• 100,000 visitor mark passed in August
• Highest certificates for LEED Platinum and BREEAM Outstanding achieved
• Sustainable Cities Week to focus on cities and climate change, urban
livability and culture
In its first year, Siemens’ urban development centre, the Crystal, has evolved into a
global hub for urban sustainability, a well sought-after venue for conferences and
meetings – and an East London landmark. From August 30 to September 5, 2013,
the Crystal will celebrate its first anniversary by hosting Sustainable Cities Week.
The Crystal has fulfilled its mission of serving as a global centre for sustainable
urban development. It has hosted a range of impressive events and international
conferences with high-level audiences. Among those were the G8 Innovation
Conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris
Johnson’s Low Carbon Awards as well as a TEDx Newham event and the
International Federation for Housing and Planning’s 100th anniversary lecture.
The Crystal has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations with regards to
visitor numbers. International opinion leaders, city delegations, business groups,
university students and school children, city planners and urban experts, local
residents and tourists have turned the centre with the world’s largest exhibition on
the future of cities into a success story. Just a few days ago, on August 23, Crystal
staff welcomed the 100,000th visitor to the new East London landmark.
“The Crystal has turned out to be quite a success story. With only twelve months of
operation it has become the world's most visited exhibition showcase on urban
sustainability and a recognized international flagship for Siemens. It is now an
indisputable global platform for collaboration amongst key city stakeholders,
academia, businesses and the public,” said Pedro Miranda, Head of Siemens’
Global Centre of Competence Cities.
A week of highlights at the Crystal is scheduled from August 30 to September 5,
2013. The Siemens Festival Nights will bring the screening of operatic masterpieces
to East London. From Friday to Tuesday, the public screenings of new opera
productions from the 2013 Salzburg Festival will enchant audiences outside and
inside the Crystal.
The DLD (Digital Life Design) conference’s roundtable on “City Identity and Culture”
will unite thought leaders and the heads of iconic cultural institutions on Tuesday for
an evening of lively discussion. Panelists will include Helga Rabl-Stadler, President
of the Salzburg Festival, artist Richard Wentworth and David Rowan from Wired
Magazine. The evening will be concluded by a spectacular laser illumination, telling
the story of cities and their urban future.
The inaugural City Climate Leadership Awards will be launched by the C40 City
Climate Leadership Group (C40) and Siemens on Wednesday, September 4th. The
awards recognize city innovation that accelerates city action to combat the sources
and impacts of climate change. They will be granted annually in ten categories and
will provide global recognition for cities that are demonstrating climate action
leadership. The winning cities have been selected by an independent, seven
member judging panel consisting of former city Mayors, architects and
representatives of the World Bank, C40 and Siemens.
On Thursday, the City Climate Leadership Awards Conference will round off
Sustainable Cities Week. The conference will gather Mayors, city leaders, and urban
sustainability experts. Representatives of the cities nominated for the awards will
present their projects and share their expertise in combating climate change with
their peers.
After the conclusion of Sustainable Cities Week, a new highlight will be attracting
visitors to the Crystal. Beginning in October, Siemens, in association with CBS
Outdoor and the London Transport Museum, will showcase its view of the future of
London underground transport (‘Going Underground: Our Journey to the Future’).
The centrepiece of the exhibition will be a full-scale mock-up of a Siemens Inspiro
metro train, plus a glimpse into an underground station of the future.
The Crystal has demonstrated since September 2012 how cities can create a better
future. Built to resemble a crystal, the building is one of the most efficient in the
world and has achieved the highest certifications according to the international
energy efficiency standard LEED Platinum and the UK standard BREEAM
Outstanding. It serves as a conference and research centre and offers 2,000 square
metres of space for an interactive exhibition on the future of cities. The Crystal also
is the home of Siemens’ “Centre of Competence Cities” (CoC) and as such has a
special significance for the company’s Infrastructure & Cities Sector. The CoC is
responsible for building up strategic partnerships between Siemens and city
organizations, conducting urban research, promoting cross-Division and cross-
Sector solutions for cities, bringing together internal and external urban experts and
managing the worldwide network of Siemens’ City Account Managers.
Contact for journalists:
Siemens UK, Corporate Communications
Anne Keogh, Tel: +44(0)7808 823 545 / E-Mail: anne.keogh@siemens.com
Silke Thomson-Pottebohm, Tel: +44(0)7808 822 780 / E-Mail: silke.thomson-pottrbohm@siemens.com
Further information and facts and figures relation to the Sustainable Cities Week are
available at: www.siemens.com/press/sustainable-cities-week
For more information on Siemens Festival Nights, go to:
www.siemens.at/festspielnaechte/
For more information on DLDcities London 13, go to:
www.dld-conference.com/DLDcitiesLondon13
For more information on the Awards and the projects of the nominated cities, go to: www.cityclimateleadershipawards.com
The Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector (Munich, Germany), with approximately 90,000 employees, focuses on sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offering includes products, systems and solutions for intelligent traffic management, rail-bound transportation, smart grids, power distribution, energy
efficient buildings, and safety and security. The Sector comprises the divisions Building Technologies, Low and Medium Voltage, Mobility and Logistics, Rail Systems and Smart Grid. For more information, visit
http://www.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities
