30TS.8

 

8. Preah Pithu

a) Notes that, for the “T” structure required for the first phase of operations, the recommendations given earlier for a minimum, inconspicuous intervention on that landscaped structure, particularly natural and poetic in its overall staging, have been meticulously followed;

b) On that point, commends the project implementation team for that job as well as for the quality and precision of the restored molded or carved architectural elements treated in one-off structural repair work;

c) For the work yet to be done on the small-scale reinforced concrete consolidation inserts done in the 1920s and 1930s by the Angkor Conservation Office, as well as for a better overall understanding of the other interventions done during that period:
– Invites the team to make a more in-depth analysis of the archives and field documents going back to that time,
– Recommends that it do a cartography showing the location of those reinforced concrete inserts and assess them one by one to determine their material degradation and particular pathologies or those induced on the ancient adjacent structures,
– Advises against automatically eliminating those early repair jobs, indeed a very delicate if not dangerous operation, but rather conserve them wherever they are not damaged or likely to cause damage;

d) Regarding Phase 2 of operations involving the “U” pyramid structure and given the project’s start-up schedule (mid-2019), the ad hoc expert group stresses the need for fast-track submission of the project details, i.e. by the next ICC plenary session;

The file must include an assessment of the health and safety status of the tree cover around the monument along with a detailed structural diagnosis of it (architectural survey, its pathologies and changeability thereof), ending up with guidelines for the project that will enable the group to better grasp the scope of unavoidable dismantling/reassembly interventions on its superstructures, with the proviso that these be confined to a minimalist intervention approach;

e) Expresses again to the APSARA National Authority its earlier concerns regarding the especially ugly and annoying selling outlets that have recently gone in a wildcat manner in immediate proximity to this outstanding monument group and recommends that consideration be given to relocating them in the framework of an overarching, multidisciplinary project for refitting the Angkor Thom Royal Place. The objective would be to address in a more integrated, aesthetic and heritage-friendly manner the various tourist functionalities of this major site (traffic, parking, services to the public, etc.).