A shrine for future generations

The restoration of the Sanro-Den Hall at the Sukunahikona Shrine in Ozu City, Japan, has received the Award of Excellence in this year’s Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

A total of 13 winning projects from six countries – Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan and Pakistan – were been recognised in this year’s awards. A panel of international conservation experts met in Bangkok to review 40 Heritage Awards entries, including 34 in the Conservation category and six for New Design.

“Jury members were delighted with the quality of this year’s entries to the Heritage Awards. This showed increased knowledge and higher standards in conservation work across Asia-Pacific,” noted Duong Bich Hanh, jury chairman and chief of Unesco Bangkok’s Culture Unit,

Sanro-Den Hall is an exceptional example of community involvement in the conservation of a heritage site of unique architectural and cultural significance. 

The project epitomises the efficacy of grass-roots advocacy, coupled with traditional building practices, in extending the life of distinctive 20th-century Kakezukuri structure and successfully returning it to a central place in the cultural life of the local community.

Jury members also agreed to revise the regulations regarding how old a site must be to be eligible for the awards, reflecting a growing awareness of the importance of recognising cultural heritage that is less than 50 years old.

While Thailand did not get any awards this year, it has taken many trophies in recent years. In 2013 Wat Prayoon in Thonburi won the top prize. Last year, the historic inn Baan Luang Rajamaitri in Chantaburi won the Award of Merit. In 2014, the century-old Bangkok residence of Phraya Si Thammathirat, a prominent civil servant under King Rama VI, won the same award. Others include a century-old Samchuk community and old market in Suphan Buri and charming Amphawa canal community in Samut Songkhram.

As well as well preserved architecture, Unesco also presented the New Design in Heritage Contexts award to The Brewery Yard, Central Park, Chippendale, Australia.

 Award winners are selected on the basis of the extent to which the projects reflected a clear understanding and application of various criteria, such as the articulation of the spirit of place, technical achievement and the project’s contribution to the surrounding environment. 

Eligible projects must have been completed within the past 10 years and buildings with a new use must have been in use for at least one year from the date of the awards announcement.

The striking transformation of the Brewery Yard in Chippendale into an efficient tri-generation plant evocatively reinterprets a century-old industrial building type for contemporary use. Clad in a shimmering metallic mesh, the sculptural new roof hovers above the historic brick factory, creating an iconic new addition to the city’s skyline. 

 

THE WINNERS

Award of Distinction

- Conservation and Restoration of Taoping Qiang Village, Sichuan Province, China

- Conservation of St Olav’s Church, West Bengal, India

 

 Award of Merit

- Repairs and Restoration to the Cama Building, Mumbai Central, Mumbai, India

- Restoration of Fortification of Walls & Bastions of Mahidpur Fort, Madhya Pradesh, India

- Conservation of the 17th-century Shahi Hammam, Lahore, Pakistan

 

 Honourable Mention

- Renovation Project of Wu Changshuo Residence Archaeological Site, Zhejiang Province, China

- Fudewan Miners Village of Wenzhou Alunite Mine in China, Zhejiang Province, China

- The World Bank loan Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project, Liu Ancestral Hall Preservation and Renovation Project of Sanmentang Village, Tianzhu County, Guizhou province, China

- Revitalisation of the Old Tai Po Police Station into a Green Hub for Sustainable Living, Hong Kong SAR, China

- Restoration of the Main Building, The Doon School, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

- Darugheh House, Mashad, 

Khorasan Razavi, Iran