Call for Entries: 2008 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation

Entries are now being accepted for the 2008 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. The awards programme, in its ninth year, recognizes the achievement of individuals and organizations within the private sector, and public-private intitiatives, in successfully restoring structures of  heritage value in the Asia-Pacific region. The deadline for receipt of materials is 31 March, 2008.

Projects involving buildings more than fifty years old and which were completed within the last ten years are eligible for consideration. Houses, commercial, cultural, religious, industrial or institutional buildings, gardens and bridges are all eligible. Public-private partnership projects such as historic towns, urban quarters and rural settlements where the essential elements are more than 50 years old are all also eligible.

In addition to the established awards the "Jury Commendation for Innovation", introduced in 2005, will also be judged. The commendation recognizes newly-built structures which demonstrate outstanding standards for contemporary architectural design which are well integrated into historic contexts.

In 2007, the Maitreya Temples (Ladakh, India) were honoured with the Award of Excellence. 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 were given to 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 were the Liu Family Civil Residence (Shanxi, China) and the Old St. Andrews School (Singapore). The 2007 Heritage Awards Jury Commendation for Innovation went to Whitfield Barracks (Hong Kong SAR, China).

Entries for the 2008 awards programme must be submitted with an official entry form, drawings, photographs and project description to the UNESCO Office of the Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. Complete programme information, including an entry form, is available here.

Winners will be announced in September 2008, with a selected number of entries receiving the "Award of Excellence", "Award of Distinction", "Award of Merit", "Honourable Mention" and "Jury Commendation". 

For more information please contact h.montira@unescobkk.org