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April 10, 2013

Three Months in Arica, Part II

On the last day of January, we prepared for our trip to Socoroma, where we would be for 10 days while working on the church rectory, which serves as the town’s information center. Work began on February 4 with the Pawa ceremony, where the workers pay tribute to the land they will work on. The first tasks included clearing the site and removing plaster coating.

March 28, 2013

Mashing Modernism

Coming directly on the heels of the demolition of Richard Neutra’s Cyclorama at Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania, the Chicago Landmarks Commission approval of Northwestern University’s plan to demolish Prentice Women’s Hospital, a striking 1975 landmark building by Bertrand Goldberg, underscores the national under-appreciation of the significance of modernism.

March 26, 2013

Wangduechhoeling Palace, a Historic Treasure

An architectural masterpiece with perhaps the finest representation of nineteenth-century Bhutanese architecture, Wangduechhoeling Palace is a powerful symbol of the establishment of the monarchy in Bhutan.

March 19, 2013

Conserving the Traditional Architecture of the Asantes

Traditional buildings constructed with local materials and traditional plans are found in all the regions of Ghana. Though the architectural forms differ from region to region, the problems of their maintenance and repair are very similar. The group of Asante traditional shrines has a strong symbolic, social, religious, and historical value.

March 15, 2013

Presentation of the Articulated Wall by Herbert Bayer

The Articulated Wall was created by Austrian artist Herbert Bayer for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Composed of 33 solid concrete modules and standing at almost 60 feet, the sculpture represented Austria-USA in the Ruta de la Amistad. Two years after its creation, the lands surrounding the sculpture were sold and development engulfed the Articulated Wall, leaving it to all into disrepair.

March 15, 2013

A Rewarding First Visit to Angkor

As ICR’s Senior Scientist, I have been involved in WMF’s work at Angkor for about eight years. That work has included research on Khmer construction materials, along with the development and evaluation of specialized products for conservation of the sites. Until recently, my Angkor work was undertaken in ICR’s New York laboratory.

March 14, 2013

My First Visit to Phnom Bakheng

My experience of Phnom Bakheng, prior to visiting the site in January, was strictly from a laboratory perspective. I had looked at samples through the microscope, gathered and reviewed data from other analysts on the samples, and directed a testing program of an injection grout for use at the brick shrines. My view, in other words, was microscopic.

March 06, 2013

An Overview of the Kyomachiya Revitalization Project

It has been 20 years since we celebrated the inauguration of the Kyomachiya Council. Despite the continued demolition of traditional wooden houses in the central districts of Kyoto, we have experienced a great surge of regenerative efforts to restore and preserve the isolated examples of these houses that are still remaining. Although 20 years is quite a long period of time, we have been able to achieve a wide variety of activities.

February 25, 2013

New Set of Tourist Literature for Delhi Heritage Route

Over the last two years, as part of the process of nominating the city of Delhi to the UNESCO World Heritage list, various activities have been initiated to generate awareness among the citizens of Delhi and the public at large. Publishing a set of tourist literature consisting of 20 booklets and 18 walking maps that cover the entire gamut of heritage sites in Delhi is one such initiative.

February 21, 2013

Restoring Traditional Houses in Desa Lingga, Indonesia

In the Karo Highlands, about 100 kilometers from Medan, the capital of North Sumatra Province, there is a village called Desa Lingga (Lingga Village) where the residents still retain the same customs of Karo culture as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago.

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