Archinect - News

Overdevelopment, conflict, and climate change pose biggest threats to global cultural sites, World Monuments Fund warns

2024-09-13T17:25:00-04:00

Ahead of its January 2025 release of the World Monuments Watch list, the World Monuments Fund has announced the greatest factors threatening heritage sites globally are conflict, climate change, "overtourism," a lack of financial support and community engagement, and an extenuating state of overdevelopment.

The organization says they are doing so now in the interest of “sounding the alarm" and raising awareness while the final site included in its next watch list is still being deliberated. The WMF has not produced such documentation since 2022, when it found 25 sites as being under threat. The tenor of threats varies by region, with a majority (58%) of those surveyed in North America & Europe under threat due to "insufficient funding and resources." A total of 200 sites were nominated worldwide.

World Monuments Fund announces its 2022 watch list of endangered heritage sites

2022-03-01T16:52:00-05:00

An important designation has been granted to several of the globe’s most important underrepresented cultural landmarks after the World Monuments Fund (WMF) today announced its biannual World Monuments Watch list.

The list represents a group of endangered heritage sites in dire need of preservation as their local stewards attempt to prevent them from falling victim to climate change, crowded tourism, overdevelopment in urban areas, natural disasters, and war.

Heritage Buildings of Beirut, Lebanon: The vibrant coastal city of Beirut, devastated by the blast of August 2020, needs further recovery support to protect and rehabilitate the historic buildings essential to its identity. Pictured: A French-mandate building in the upper part of the Fouad Boutros corridor after the blast. Image courtesy WMF.

The 25 sites comprising this year’s list are made up of a diverse cadre spanning across a time period of 12,000 years and from countries as far-ranging as the United Kingdom and Nepal. Thei...

Communicating with landmarks: How architecture can amplify international support and solidarity with Ukrainians

2022-03-01T14:43:00-05:00

Coverage of Vladimir Putin's violent Ukraine invasion has flooded news and social media outlets since Thursday, February 24. Over the last few days, anti-war protestors around the globe have crowded city streets as they show support for Ukraine and its people.

Cities worldwide have echoed sentiments of solidarity and peace by illuminating public buildings and landmarks in Ukraine's national colors of blue and yellow. Yet, while many groups and organizations continue to send relief and aid, have we overlooked how architecture can be used to send messages of social and political expression? After all, architecture is political.

Delegation of the European Union to the United States building located in Washington, DC. Image courtesy of @EUintheUS via Twitter.

Take the recent writing of Los Angeles Times columnist Carolina Miranda. Posted on Monday evening, Miranda's perceptive take on President Zelensky's use of "architectural backdrops" shows the importance of how historic buildings, l...

Proposed theme park near Angkor Wat temple complex rejected, for now

2021-03-29T15:40:00-04:00

Cambodia’s Culture and Fine Arts Ministry has rejected a proposal by the Hong Kong casino operator NagaCorp to build a resort and theme park near the sprawling Angkor Wat temple complex after concerns raised by Unesco. The government’s rejection of NagaCorp’s plan to develop 75 hectares of land located around 500m south of the protected buffer zone of Angkor was announced earlier this week, according to Cambodian media outlets.

While a theme park of the proposed size near the Angkor Archaeological Park appears to be off the table for now, a Cambodian government spokesperson indicated potential openness to a scaled-down version in the future, The Art Newspaper reports.

World Monuments Fund pushes back against new international airport in Peru's Sacred Valley of the Incas

2021-02-11T13:42:00-05:00

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has called on the Peruvian government to halt the next phase of construction of an airport outside the Andean town of Chinchero and conduct a heritage impact assessment to prevent irreversible damage to treasured Incan sites. The WMF designated the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which stretches from the city of Cusco to Machu Picchu, the crown jewel of Inca heritage, a 2020 World Monuments Watch site.

Previously: Archaeologists protest new international airport near Machu Picchu

Angkor Archaeological Park: major conservation milestone reached in Cambodia

2019-06-14T13:51:00-04:00

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is celebrating a milestone in its ongoing work at the Angkor archaeological park in Cambodia: the completion of a decade-long $4.8m conservation effort on the eastern side of Phnom Bakheng, one of the site’s oldest temples.

Restoration work on the eastern half of the ancient temple is now complete. Image courtesy of WMF.

"WMF’s work at Angkor began with a 1989 field mission to evaluate the damage it had suffered following 20 years of civil strife and international isolation," explains the World Monuments Fund website. "The team discovered that Angkor’s caretakers and many educated Cambodians had fled or died under the Khmer Rouge, leaving a capacity void for the site’s conservation. Encouraged by the Ministry of Culture, WMF developed recommendations to address fundamental preservation issues at four sites: Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Preah Khan, and Ta Som."

The western half of Phnom Bakheng is still in dire need of restoration work. Photo: Amine Birdouz, courtesy of WMF.

"Phnom Bakheng, the state temple of the first Khmer capital constructed between the ninth and tenth centuries, survives as one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures. In 2004, World Monuments Fund began its initial engagement a...

Annabelle Selldorf-designed Qianlong Garden Interpretation Center coming to Beijing's iconic Forbidden City in 2020

2019-01-29T17:42:00-05:00

The 250-year-old retirement digs of an 18th-century Chinese emperor are getting a face-lift. The World Monuments Fund announced Monday that the New York-based architect Annabelle Selldorf and her firm, Selldorf Architects, will design an interpretation center at the Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

According to the World Monuments Fund, "the interpretation center will be located in an existing, restored structure within the second courtyard of the Qianlong Garden."

Juanqinzhai theater room after conservation. Image courtesy World Monuments Fund.

"Selldorf and her NYC-based firm, Selldorf Architects, designed the center in three distinct halls surrounding an open pavilion, each of which will provide visitors with a unique perspective on the past and present of the remarkable complex."

Interpretation Center exterior before conservation. Image courtesy World Monuments Fund.

"The Garden was largely left dormant after PuYi, China’s last emperor, left the Forbidden City in 1924. Its buildings have never been opened to the public, and it is one of the most significant historical sites in the Forbidden City to remain unrestored since imperial times. In 2004, World Monuments Fund and the Palace Museum partnered on a comprehensive review of the entire Qianlong Garden site and developed a ...

Sitting in the shadow of the Taj Mahal, the lush Mughal Gardens of Agra have been restored

2019-01-14T18:09:00-05:00

The World Monuments Fund [...] announced the completion of a conservation project at two historic Mughal gardens along the Yamuna riverfront in Agra, India, that had been threatened by pollution, traffic congestion and other urban ills. The sites, Mehtab Bagh and the Garden of the Tomb of I’timad-ud-Daulah, were newly inaugurated by the fund and the Archaeological Survey of India, its partner in the four-year effort, in a ceremony at I’timad-ud-Daulah.

Image via the World Monuments Fund on Facebook

"The project will finish with the completion of a visitor center at I’timad-ud-Daulah, to open in 2019," reports the World Monuments Fund. "Raising awareness and visibility of the gardens that are often overshadowed by their more famous neighbor, the Taj Mahal, was an important objective of the conservation. The enhanced visitor services will offer local residents and tourists an opportunity to learn more about the history of the magnificent gardens."

World Monuments Fund receives $1m grant to protect eight threatened watchlist sites

2018-06-14T13:47:00-04:00

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) received $1m from American Express to conserve eight of the 25 threatened cultural heritage sites on their watchlist. The awards range from $25,000 to $225,000 and many will be used to respond to damage inflicted by climate change. [...] The WMF has also received funding from a private donor and the Friends of Heritage Preservation for the Alabama Civil Rights Sites. The 14 other threatened monuments on the group’s list are still seeking support.

Preserving Iraq's Heritage: World Monuments Fund partners with Google for new online exhibitions

2018-06-06T16:10:00-04:00

Launched on the Google Arts & Culture platform today, the project includes drone footage of ancient sites and structures like the ziggurat in Borsippa and the Archway of Ctesiphon, 3D models of now lost architecture, like Babylon’s famous Ishtar Gate, and documentation of sites that have been damaged or destroyed by Isis, including Nimrud, Hatra and Mosul.

"Using drone footage, 3D models and videos, the tech giant is working with cultural institutions to make preservation efforts accessible to a larger public," The Art Newspaper reports.

View the Preserving Iraq's Heritage online exhibition here.

Training refugees to conserve their monumental heritage

2018-03-20T15:43:00-04:00

The problems: how to conserve extraordinary monumental heritage in Iraq and Syria [...]. The issue is exacerbated by the depletion of skilled craftspeople; once the dust of conflict settles, there will be few able to carry out restoration. At the same time, thousands sit in refugee camps, lives on hold, seeking a future. The solution: train refugees to become the craftspeople and conservators of the future. Give them a skill to help restore their nation’s heritage.

Photo: World Monuments Fund.

Learn more about the World Monuments Fund’s new stone masonry training center for Syrian refugees in Mafraq, Jordan (backed by the UK government’s Cultural Protection Fund) here.

The 2018 World Monuments Watch announces 25 at-risk sites threatened by human conflict, urbanization, and climate change

2017-10-16T15:39:00-04:00

The monument conservation group, World Monuments Fund, has announced 25 of the world's at-risk sites on its biennial watch list. Threatened by human conflict, climate change, disasters and/or urbanization, the newly listed historical gems span more than 30 countries and territories dating from prehistory to the twentieth century.

Presenting a diverse group of cultural heritage sites, experts in archaeology, architecture and art picked from over 170 nominations made by citizens, activists, and governments. The whittled down selection ranges from a collection of little-known homes, churches and community centers in Alabama where pivotal events of the Civil Rights Movement took place to a collection of vulnerable modern architecture in Delhi; from the last active synagogue in Alexandria, to sites of the Caribbean, the Gulf, and Mexico, recently affected by hurricanes and earthquakes.

In the Souk of Aleppo, with a Mamluk portal leading to a courtyard to the right, 2008. Photo: Adli Qu...

Saving Modern buildings, one hashtag at a time: World Monuments Fund kicks off #ModernCentury Instagram campaign

2017-04-27T15:04:00-04:00

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) launched its first Instagram campaign [...] to draw attention to the plight of the world’s Modern buildings, an increasing number of which are at risk because of the lack of regulations or political will needed to protect them. The fund kicks off the programme with a list of 30 sites nominated by architects, experts and students posted on its website and is appealing to the public to add to this list by submitting nominations via Instagram.

"The list will be sent to an advisory council formed of architects, including Annabelle Selldorf, designers and critics, who will advise the WMF on the next phase of the Modern Century programme."

The sites included on the initial list of 30 nominees are:

Hall of Nations (pictured in the cover photo above, demolished on April 23, 2017), New Delhi, India

Thompson Center (State of Illinois Building), Chicago, Illinois, USA (Photo: Mobilus In Mobili, Flickr)

Algiers Polytechnic School of Architecture and Urbanism, Algiers, Algeria

Hiraoka City Hall, Hiraoka, Japan

Honduras National Congress, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

SESC Pompéia, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Photo: Markus Lanz, Flickr)

Sirius Building, Sydney, Australia

Alexandria Zoo, Alexandria, Egypt

South Humber Park Pavilion, Toronto, Canada

Spomen Dom, Kolašin, Montenegro (Photo: Boban Scepanovic)

Restaurante Panorâmico de Monsanto, Lisbon, Portugal

Scala Theater, Bangkok, Thailand

Painted Desert Community Complex, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, ...

Moscow's iconic Shukhov Tower added to World Monuments Fund Watch List

2016-03-21T13:32:00-04:00

The Shukhov Tower, a 1920s broadcast transmission tower in Moscow that is a landmark of modernist structural engineering, has been placed on the 2016 World Monuments Fund Watch list of endangered global cultural heritage sites. Activists in Moscow organized two days of events over the weekend to observe the tower’s 94th birthday [...] At a Kremlin meeting last December, Mr. Putin praised activists for rallying to save cultural heritage sites and dressed down officials for not doing enough.

The Shukhov Tower, also known as Shabolovka Tower, previously in the Archinect news:

High Line co-founder Joshua David appointed World Monuments Fund president

2015-06-04T13:28:00-04:00

The New York-based World Monuments Fund announced [...] that Joshua David, the co-founder of New York’s High Line—a major urban regeneration project that has inspired similar initiatives in places such as Paris and Philadelphia—will succeed Bonnie Burnham as president of the non-profit heritage preservation organisation. Burnham is to retire in November after 30 years in the post. [...] David announced in late January that he was stepping down as president of the Friends of the High Line.

Restoration of Alvar Aalto’s Viipuri Library wins 2014 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize

2014-11-04T17:51:00-05:00

The Finnish Committee for the Restoration of the Viipuri Library with the Central City Alvar Aalto Library in Vyborg recently won the 2014 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize for restoring Alvar Aalto's historic Viipuri Library in Vyborg, Russia. Established in 2008, the prize is awarded biennially for an innovative architectural or design solution that has preserved or enhanced a modern landmark or group of landmarks.

The biennial Knoll Prize will be presented at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City on December 1, followed by a free public lecture from the winners. The prize includes a cash award of $10,000 and a limited edition Mies van der Rohe-designed Barcelona Chair from Knoll.

The Viipuri Library, c. 1935 ↓

Find more photos and other details on Bustler.

Colon, Panama: A Once-Vibrant, and beautiful, City Struggles

2013-05-23T02:07:43-04:00

Civil society has to get things done here - Kurt Dillon, architect, Urbio

Photo by Meredith Kohut for NYT

"In recognition of its historic role in the development of modern international trade and transportation, as well as its cultural and environmental value, the Historic Center of Colon was declared a historic monument in 2002. Despite its protected status, the center continues to suffer the effect of more than 30 years of neglect and abuse. This short, Spanish-language documentary offers criteria for a democratic project of urban conservation and economic revitalization that begins with the dispelling of stereotypes and the valorization of Colon's exceptional cultural heritage."

The Historic Center of the City of Colon: A project for its conservation, revitalization and sustainable management.