1993 (no. 3)
** FROM THE PRESIDENT, Terry B. Morton, Hon. AIA At the end of 1992, following an established practice of nonprofit organizations, US/ICOMOS asked its members and friends to make donations over and above membership dues. Also, as a "Valentine" for a good cause, members were asked in February to contribute to the International Summer Intern Program. More than $14,500 was received for year-end donations from 64 members. 28 donors contributed $1,650 for the Summer Intern Program. US/ICOMOS is most grateful to our members and friends for these generous donations. US/ICOMOS is requesting $200,000 for the FY 1994 budget from the U.S. Congress. This is a 100 percent increase over the straight-lined appropriations since 1984. The first $100,000 will be used as in previous years: $35,000 for World Heritage Programs; $40,000 for national and international programs; and $25,000 for National Park Service dues for educational and core programs. The additional $100,000 is for inflation adjustment over the past 10 years and for new programs. $50,000 of this is for inflation adjustment since 1984 by 31 percent of the U.S. dollar and currency fluctuations of 61 percent relating to the French franc. These figures were obtained from the U.S. Department of Commerce, using the Implicit Price Deflator for Gross Domestic Product. Since the ICOMOS Secretariat is in Paris, France, some of our support, primarily for dues and travel, is transferred into French francs. The other $50,000 is for new programs. US/ICOMOS will cooperate with the National Park Service in developing the international dimension of the newly-authorized Historic Preservation Technology and Training Center. Mid-level professional exchanges will be arranged with Eastern European member states of the World Heritage Convention. National preservation legislation workshops will be conducted in Eastern European national committees of ICOMOS. US/ICOMOS members are urged to write endorsement letters as soon as possible to: The Honorable Sydney Yates, Chairman, Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; and The Honorable Robert C. Byrd, Chairman, Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. Appreciation is expressed to the U.S. Congress for its support over the past 10 years. ** ICOMOS INTERNATIONAL SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE ON WOOD The ICOMOS International Specialized Committee on Wood met in late 1992 in Nepal to discuss that country's fragile wood heritage of the Kathmandu Valley and to try to suggest ways to save the magnificent heritage of wooden temples and shrines. Since 1979, when UNESCO launched a Safeguarding Campaign for the Kathmandu Valley, some restoration work has been done on the monuments. However, the Wood Committee recommended that UNESCO support an ICOMOS mission to review all the conservation projects. The wood is not only threatened by worsening air pollution; the Committee also voiced concern over the use of reinforced concrete for repairs. The committee's experts recommended that the Nepalese Department of Archaeology establish standards to limit the use of chemical preservatives to cases where scientific need can be proven, and that they establish a unit dealing with wood science. Another recommendation on wood concerned ways to increase the supply. The committee recommended in its final report that the Nepalese government establish policies to gear part of its reforestation efforts to providing timbers for restoration. For more information on the ICOMOS International Specialized Committee on Wood contact: Mr. Nils Marsten, Riksantikvaren, Postbox 8196 Dep., N-0034 Oslo 1, Norway. ** VIENNA'S IMPERIAL STABLES FACE DEMOLITION Plans to establish a museum of modern art and media center in Vienna, Austria, call for the demolition of a major portion of the Imperial Court Stables, built by the baroque architect J.B. Fischer von Erlach in the 1720s. On January 22, 1993, the City Counselors of Vienna voted to rescind the city's strict zoning regulations to accommodate the project 60 out of 100 delegates, all members of the Social Democratic and Green Alternative Parties, supported the project. A large portion of the historic complex, which has been used for trade fairs and exhibitions since 1918, will be replaced with contemporary glass and steel high-rise structures. This new construction will tower above the three and four-story baroque facade designed by von Erlach and completed according to his plans in the 19th and 20th centuries. The project awaits approval from the Bundesdenkmalamt, the Austrian Office for the Preservation of Monuments. Currently, the Imperial Stables comprise one of Vienna's most complete and historically authentic vistas. If approved, the plan will destroy the site's architectural credibility. US/ICOMOS Members are urged to write letters of concern to: Dr. G. Sailer, President, Bundesdenkmalamt, Hofburg, Schweizerhof, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, with a copy of the letter to Ms. Lisa Mildner, Josefstadterstrasse 19, A-1080 Vienna, Austria. For more information contact: Dr. Marilyn Perry, The Samuel Kress Foundation, 174 East 80th Street, New York, NY 10021. ** SEIZED HAWAII LANDMARK GIVEN TO STATE The 22-acre Greenbank Estate in North Kohala, Big Island of Hawaii, was turned over to the State of Hawaii early this year by the U.S. Customs Service. The property, which includes a major ancient Hawaiian archaeological site, is reported to have been Kamehameha's home for the first five years of his life. The property was sold by Kamehameha IV to Dr. James Wright, who had been shipwrecked at Mahukona in 1850 with his wife on his way from Australia to California to join the gold rush. The U.S. Customs Service seized the property in 1990 because it was reputed to have been purchased with drug money. In June 1992, Historic Hawaii assisted in making a proposal to the United States Attorney's Office in Sacramento to have the property turned over to the State of Hawaii under federal law Title 21 of the United States Code, which allows forfeited property to be transferred to the state for "historic purposes." Greenbank has been determined to be one of the finest existing examples of "Polynesian irrigated agricultural sites (circa A.D. 1300-1900) in Hawaii" with loi terraced along both sides of Halawa stream. According to a review of the site in 1989 by Dr. Ross Cordy, state archaeologist, "The terraces in this site are in excellent condition, and we believe that this site is an excellent example of its type -- an irrigated agricultural site found in narrow gulches or valleys. The surface remains of such sites typically can date from the A.D. 1400s-1800s, with subsurface, earlier deposits quite possible." ** NEWS FROM WORLD HERITAGE SITES The UNESCO office in Cambodia reported that armed attackers raided the conservation storehouse near the recently inscribed Angkor temple complex. Thieves seriously injured one person and escaped with at least eleven important sculptures. UNESCO, which has a suboffice in Siem Reap, is assisting the Conservation Office in making emergency repairs to the storage facilities to prevent further looting. Theft and illegal export of monumental sculpture have been endemic in this century and have greatly increased during the country's recent turbulent history. In response, UNESCO held a series of workshops to train 450 Cambodian policemen, many of them newly recruited local people, in the protection of Angkor from vandalism, theft and the international traffic in stolen artifacts. The 200-square kilometer site was inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List in December 1992. Also at Angkor, restorers will now be able to consult computerized site records going back 80 years. Data on restoration work undertaken by the Ecole Francaise d'Exteme-Orient (French School of Far Eastern Studies) since 1909 has been recently computerized with the help of a grant by Unesco's Japanese Funds-in-Trust. The material includes reports, photographs and maps of Angkor. The data, including decades of handwritten logbooks with drawings of architectural details, have been put on microfiche. The index for the material is now on computer disk. Both microfiche and disk can be consulted on portable battery-operated machines for easy use at the jungle site. In February, McDonald's announced it was negotiating to open its latest operation at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, along the Seine River, the banks of which were designated a World Heritage Site at the World Heritage Committee meeting in December 1991. According to McDonald's, the fast-food restaurant will be housed beside the historic Pont d'Iena within the tourist-welcoming facilities planned by Vedettes des Arts, a franchise operation that runs tours along the Seine. Although Paris Adjoint Mayor Jean Tiberi deemed the project "unacceptable," the riverbank area does not fall under his jurisdiction. The Port de Paris, a regional authority without municipal representation, controls the historic river area. Tiberi pledged that if McDonald's does not withdraw the plan, the city will attempt to block the construction in court. McDonald's, which already maintains 14 Paris locations, has refused to back down. ** NEWS OF MEMBERS AND FRIENDS Marvin Breckinridge Patterson has been named Trustee Emeritus of Meridian International Center. Mrs. Patterson's career as a photographer, journalist and author will be the subject of a retrospective exhibit this spring at the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C. ~ ~ ~ U.S. Information Agency official Robert R. Gosende has been appointed special envoy to Somalia to continue efforts to restore government to that country. ~ ~ ~ Graham Brooks, ARAIA, RIBA, of ICOMOS Australia, recently spoke at the Charles Sumner School in Washington, D.C. on "Preservation Methodology in Australia: Accommodating Indigenous Cultures" to local US/ICOMOS members and guests. ** PUBLICATIONS "ICOMOS Adopts Archaeological Heritage Charters: Text and Commentary," by Ricardo J. Elia. From the Journal of Field Archaeology, this six-page article discusses the ICOMOS Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage (adopted in 1990). The article presents background for the Charter, the Charter itself and explanatory comments. For information on the US/ICOMOS Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management, or for a copy of this article, contact: Ricardo Elia, Director, Office of Public Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. ** GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE- ELECTION PROCEDURES US/ICOMOS members attending the General Assembly in Sri Lanka in July and August have asked about procedures for voting in General Assembly elections. ICOMOS Statues permit all members of ICOMOS National Committees to attend and participate in General Assemblies. Each National Committee is limited to 18 votes at the General Assembly. These may be voted individually or by proxy; however, no member may have more than six votes (their own and five proxies). One month before the General Assembly, National Committee Chairmen must submit a list of the Committee's voting members and an indication of proxies that each voting member will carry. If more than 18 US/ICOMOS members attend the General Assembly, the Chairman of US/ICOMOS will decide which committee members shall vote. At the General Assembly, voting lists are examined by the Credentials Committee to ensure that conditions set forth in the ICOMOS Statues are met. If you plan to attend the General Assembly and would like to vote, be sure to advise US/ICOMOS before June 15 of your interest in being a voting member of the U.S. delegation. ** TRAINING The Summer Course in Monuments Preservation at the Technical University of Budapest will be held from June 21 - July 10, 1993, at the Institute of History and Theory of Architecture, Technical University of Budapest. The course will include 10 days of lectures and 5 days of study tours to be conducted by Dr. Mihaly Zador. Contact: Institute of History and Theory of Architecture, Technical University of Budapest, 3 Muegyetem rpk, Budapest 1521, Hungary, tel. 36-1-18]-2563, fax 36-1-666-808. CALENDAR May 12-15, 1993. The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and the ICOMOS International Committee on Historic Gardens and Sites will present the International Symposium on the Conservation of Urban Squares and Parks in Montreal, Quebec. Contact: Conference Secretariat, Coplanor Congres Inc., 511 Place d'Armes - Suite 600, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 2W7, tel: 514-848-1133, fax: 514-288-6469. May 31-June 7,1993. The Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund will lead a Jewish Heritage Tour of Poland. The tour will visit 23 important Jewish historical areas, and will culminate with a concert by the Cracow Philharmonic. Contact: Samuel Gruber, Director, Jewish Heritage Council, World Monuments Fund, 174 East 80th Street, New York, NY 10021, tel: 212-517-9367, fax: 212-628-3146. August 11-13, 1993. The Polish National Committee of ICOMOS will hold a post-General Assembly Workshop on Military Architecture in Galle, located just inside the ramparts of the Galle Fort, a World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka. The workshop will review developments from ancient times, first in the Crusades from Asia Minor to Europe, and later, after engineering transportation, from Europe to the rest of the world. This 3-day workshop wili take place after the ICOMOS 10th General Assembly to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from July 30 to August 10, 1993. For information, or to register, contact: Prof. Olgierd Czerner, Siege du Comite: Zamek Krolewski, 00-277 Warszawa, Plac Zamkowy 4, tel/fax: 48-22-29-37-91. September 15-17,1993. The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering will present the symposium Structural Preservation of the Architectural Heritage in Rome, Italy. ICOMOS is cosponsoring the symposium. Contact: IABSE, c/o Dip. Ing. Strutt., Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy, tel: 39-2-239-94-322, fax: 39-2-239-94-220. September 22-24, 1993. The United Kingdom National Committee of ICOMOS will present The World Heritage Conference at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne. The conference will review the concept and practice of World Heritage over 21 years, with particular reference to cultural designation in relation to current developments and case-studies. Contact: Prof. Peter Fowler, Dept. of Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom, tel: 91-222-7844, fax: 91-261-1182. ** SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE REMINDER Participation in US/ICOMOS Specialized Committees requires a Specialized Committee membership fee of $10 per committee. Participation is generally by correspondence, but committees meet at the US/ICOMOS Annual Meeting in January in Washington, D.C. Members who wish to participate in one or more committees are urged to send $10 per committee to US/ICOMOS. For a committee listing, see back page of newsletter. For information, please contact US/ICOMOS at (202) 842-1866. .