heritage news Shigeru Ban completes Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre The Pritzker-winning architect Shigeru Ban has completed the dramatic Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre in Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture, with a design that mimics the famous dormant volcano. Located approximately 20 miles southwest of the natural landmark, Ban’s 3,400sqm facility is formed by an inverted latticed timber cone, that appears mountainous when seen in the large reflecting pool at the front of the complex. Inside, exhibitions tell the story of the 3,776-metre-high World Heritage site, the history of the Fuji-ko religion it inspired, and its role in popular culture. Videos and audio recordings feature, as do artworks and a 15-metre-wide recreation of Mount Fuji made from Japanese paper. Other facilities at the visitor centre include a 4K theatre, a library, an event space, a restaurant and a shop. Visitors can ascend the building via a 193-metre spiral slope that simulates a climb up the volcano – Japan’s highest peak. A viewing tower in the cone with full-height glazing frames the real thing in the distance.
■■Shigeru Ban’s facility is located near Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site Mount Fuji was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013 and a competition was held shortly afterwards to choose a design for the Fuji World Heritage Center. The winning submission was selected ahead of over 230 rival proposals.
UNESCO developing tourism heritage tool UNESCO has committed to improving tourism management at World Heritage Sites by announcing the development of a new tool for sustainability issues. An expert panel met at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters in January to discuss the creation of the new self-assessment tourism and visitor management tool – a process designed for tourism stakeholders to better manage World Heritage Sites. ■■Details: http://lei.sr?a=M3R3v_T
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Plan for Liverpool as heritage status challenged In a bid to protect its World Heritage status, the City of Liverpool and Historic England have drawn up a heritage action plan, created to navigate the threat posed by a proposed development of the city’s waterfront, which could see it struck from the UNESCO register. Granted outline planning permission in 2013, the £5.5bn Liverpool Waters 30-year development scheme from the Peel Group would “undoubtedly cause substantial harm to the outstanding universal value of the World Heritage property”, according to the Heritage Impact Assessment report, which also said that the development would lead the World Heritage Committee (WHC) to delete Liverpool from its list.
Liverpool city Council
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■■The historic centre of Prague
Ban’s best-known cultural buildings include the Centre Pompidou-Metz museum in France, the Aspen Art Museum in Aspen, Colorado, and his recently-opened ‘music city’ on Paris’s Île Seguin island.
■■The Peel Holdings masterplan threatens Liverpool’s status Among the concerns for the WHC is Everton Football Club’s proposed development of a new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. While land has been leased, according to the report “no planning application has been submitted, nor is such an application imminent”. The report goes on to say that
should the move go ahead, it would be assessed according to the new action plan. The city is also clamping down on the construction of tall towers, following controversial plans to build a duo of high-rise buildings overlooking the River Mersey. ■■Details: http://lei.sr?a=M2C7S_T AM 1 2018 ©Cybertrek 2018