Bangkok temple gets top Unesco award

The restoration of the principal chedi (reliquary stupa) in Wat Prayurawongsawas Worawihan temple (Wat Prayoon) in Bangkok has been honoured with the Award of Excellence in the 2013 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, the Unesco’s Bangkok office announced today.
The award recognises the work undertaken on the Phra Borommathat Maha Chedi and the attached hall, Pharin Pariyattithammasala, for its technical achievement and for the outstanding social impact sparked by the conservation project.
In June this year a panel of international conservation experts was convened to review and deliberate on the 47 entries received from 16 countries across the Asia-Pacific region.
“We were particularly encouraged to see our broadest ever geographical range this year, spanning from the Cook Islands in the Eastern Pacific Ocean to the Islamic Republic of Iran at the far end of West Asia”, comments Tim Curtis, Chair of the Jury and chief of the Culture Unit, Unesco Bangkok.
The restoration of the historically significant stupa and its attached hall has preserved one of Bangkok’s most iconic religious monuments, combining an act of faith with a major engineering feat. The project has catalysed extensive social impact in the multicultural historic district of Kadeejeen. In strengthening the interior structure while maintaining the external shell of the dramatically leaning stupa, the project demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of a unique architectural typology from the early Rattanakosin era. The technical interventions, combining the latest in scientific advances with traditional construction techniques, help to convey a sense of antiquity and feeling of age. The exemplary cooperation between the monks, specialists and locals has given a 21st-century meaning to the age-old symbiosis between Buddhist monasteries and the lay community in sustaining a sacred complex as the centrepiece of neighbourhood life.
The Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation programme recognises the efforts of private individuals and organisations that have successfully restored and conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region. By recognising private efforts to restore and adapt historic properties the awards aim to encourage other property owners to undertake conservation projects within their communities, either independently or by seeking public-private partnerships.
The winners were selected based on how the projects reflected a clear understanding and application of various criteria, such as the articulation of the spirit of place, technical achievement, appropriate use or adaptation, and the project’s contribution to the surrounding environment and the local community’s cultural and historical continuity. Eligible projects must be more than 50 years old and the restoration must have been completed within the past 10 years. Buildings with a new use must have also been in viable use for at least one year from the date of the awards announcement.

Other awardees include:
Awards of Distinction:
•    The Great Serai, Kabul, Afghanistan
•    Lal Chimney Compound, Mumbai, India
•    Khaplu Palace, Baltistan, Pakistan Awards of Merit:
•    Maryborough Railway Station, Victoria, Australia
•    Enjoying Snow Yard, Beijing, China
•    Tai O Heritage Hotel, Hong Kong SAR, China
•    Royal Bombay Yacht Club Residential Chambers, Mumbai, India
•    Otaki Town Hall, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
•    Historic Buildings in Duong Lam Village, Son Tay, Hanoi, Viet Nam Honourable Mention:
•    Sail Maker’s Shed, Broome, Western Australia, Australia
•    Lost Bomb Shelter of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Viet Nam

Further information about the Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation and this year’s winning entries can be found at http://www.unescobkk.org/culture/heritageawards.