NEW YORK - FROM vanishing Kyoto merchant houses to the tourist-inundated ruins of Machu Picchu, heritage sites around the world are under pressure as never before, according to a New York-based preservation group.
The World Monuments Fund on Tuesday released its biannual watch list of global architectural treasures at risk from urban development, tourism, neglect and bad planning.
The 2010 list comprises 93 sites in 47 countries, including ancient structures but also 15 that were built in the 20th century and are already deemed endangered classics.
Some sites, like the traditional wooden houses of Kyoto in Japan, or thatched royal tombs in Uganda, may be modest from an architectural standpoint, but represent immense cultural and historical riches.
The list also includes Peru's breathtaking Machu Picchu ruins, the Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, and iconic US architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and Taliesin West houses.
The common factor was 'places that define and enrich our lives and our environment - and our world wouldn't be the same without them,' Bonnie Burnham, the fund's president, said. 'They're on the watch list because they're losing ground.' -- AF
Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:12 pm