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July 20, 2010

Field Trip to Brooklyn Bridge Park

On July 15, 2010, the staff of WMF's New York headquarters had the opportunity to tour <a href="http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/">Brooklyn Bridge Park</a>, an 85-acre park designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates that is currently under construction along the Brooklyn waterfront. Our hosts for the afternoon were Ellen Ryan, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, and Paul Seck, Senior Associate at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and the project manager for Brooklyn Bridge Park.
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June 14, 2010

French Architectes en Chef des Monuments Historiques Tour: Day 3

On the third day that WMF hosted a group of 20 conservation architects from France, we met near Lincoln Center on a sunny and warm spring morning. We were joined by Glenn Boornazian from Integrated Conservation Resources, as well as Norma Barbacci, WMF's Program Director for Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.
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June 04, 2010

New Orleans: Two Current Preservation Struggles

During my recent visit to New Orleans to deliver the 29th Annual Martha Robinson Memorial Lecture to the Louisiana Landmarks Society, all of the joys of presenting the field work of World Monuments Fund came to life brilliantly.
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May 12, 2010

Old Gathering Place is New Jewish Heritage Project

One of the newest projects for WMF's Jewish Heritage Program is the development of a comprehensive conservation plan, leading to a hands-on restoration, for the <a href="/project/keneseth-eliyahoo-synagogue">Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue </a>in Mumbai, India. There are currently around 3,500 Jews in Mumbai and three synagogues in the area. Keneseth Eliyahoo is the second-oldest synagogue of the three, named in honor of Eliyahoo Sassoon, the son of the founder of the Sassoon dynasty in India.
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April 27, 2010

Maya Marvels

After a short flight to Flores, the main city in Pet&eacute;n, Guatemala, archaeologist Vilma Fialko and I drove to the site of Naranjo to inspect the conservation work carried out at the Hieroglyph Stair Structure, thought to be an astronomic observatory associated with Reina VI Cielo, the iconic queen who ruled this Maya city between A.D. 682 and 741.
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April 26, 2010

From Pre-Hispanic Ruins to Enhanced Reality Designers

I landed in Guatemala City and headed for the historic center to meet the Friends of La Merced, a private group working with the Ministry of Culture in the rehabilitation of a religious complex completed in 1813. The neighborhood of La Merced has retained the historic character and charming low scale of 19th-century Guatemala.
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April 15, 2010

Fire Damages Watch-Listed Russborough House

I visited <a href="/project/russborough">Russborough House</a>, a 2010 Watch site, on March 22nd, following the news that a fire had severely damaged the west wing of the house. At the time of the fire, the west wing was in the process of being renovated internally for use as vacation apartments.
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March 16, 2010

Synagogue Project Sparks Neighborhood's Revitalization

At the far end of a long, narrow commercial street in the Mattancherry section of Kochi (formerly known as Cochin), in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is <a href="/project/paradesi-synagogue">Paradesi Synagogue</a>. This remarkable building is the oldest synagogue in India and the British Commonwealth. It's also the only remaining active synagogue in Kochi, which for over a thousand years had a thriving Jewish population and seven houses of worship.
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