Maitreya Temples (Ladakh, India) win Award of Excellence in the 2007 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards

• Maitreya Temples (Ladakh, India)

The Maitreya Temples (Ladakh, India) have been honoured with the Award of Excellence in the 2007 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation.

The three Awards of Distinction went to the Convocation Hall (Mumbai, India), the Altit Settlement (Gilgit, Pakistan) and the Galle Fort Hotel (Galle, Sri Lanka).

The four Awards of Merit include Bonython Hall (Adelaide, Australia), Lijiang Ancient Town (Yunnan, China), Little Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR, China) and the Astana of Syed Yahya (Skardu, Pakistan).

Two Honourable Mention prizes were also announced. They are the Liu Family Civil Residence (Shanxi, China) and the Old St. Andrew’s School (Singapore).

A total of 25 entries have been received for the 2007 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. The conservation project submissions include hotels, offices, cultural institutions, educational institutions, religious sites, memorials, public institutions, residential buildings and urban districts from 10 countries in the region.

The 2007 Heritage Awards Jury Commendation for Innovation was awarded to Whitfield Barracks (Hong Kong SAR, China). The Jury Commendation recognizes newly-built structures which demonstrate outstanding standards for contemporary architectural design which are well integrated into historic contexts. The 2007 Jury Commendation submissions include five projects (hotels, religious site and a public institution) from three countries in the region.

The UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards recognize the efforts of private individuals and organizations that have successfully restored and conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region. Eligible projects must be more than 50 years old and the restoration must have been completed within the past 10 years. Buildings must have also been in viable use for at least one year from the date of the Awards announcement.

UNESCO believes that recognizing private efforts to restore and adapt historic structures will encourage other property owners to undertake conservation projects within the community, either independently or by seeking public-private partnerships.

A panel of international conservation experts in architecture, urban planning, heritage conservation and landscape design conducted the selection process. The jury panel noted that the range of proposals received this year point to the increasing momentum and level of conservation in the Asia-Pacific region. All winning entries demonstrated sound understanding of the issues of conservation in relation to the cultural, social, historical, and architectural significance of the building or complex. In addition, all awardwinning entries had an important impact in terms of stimulating further conservation works and all made a contribution to cultural continuity in their respective communities. more

• Source:UNESCO New Delhi
• 07-09-2007