São Paulo – The United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO inscribed on Wednesday (25) the Rachid Karameh International Fair of Tripoli, Lebanon, on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to its state of conservation. The site was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated the Lebanese government in a statement. Pictured, the external area of the complex in April 2017.
According to UNESCO, located in northern Lebanon, the Rachid Karameh International Fair was designed in 1962 by Niemeyer. The fair was the flagship project of Lebanon’s modernization policy in the that decade, and the close collaboration between Niemeyer and Lebanese engineers gave rise to an example of exchange between different continents. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is the first project by Niemeyer outside Brazil to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The complex was projected on a 70-hectare site located between the historic center of Tripoli and the Al Mina port. The main building of the fair consists of a huge covered hall in the shape of a boomerang, a flexible space for countries to install exhibitions. In terms of scale and wealth of formal expression, it is one of the major representative works of 20th century modern architecture in the Arab Near East, UNESCO said.
The World Heritage Committee inscribed the site in an extraordinary session. It is now inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, due to its alarming state of conservation, the lack of financial resources for its maintenance, and the latent risk of development proposals that could affect the integrity of the complex, UNESCO said. The inscription opens access to enhanced international assistance both technical and financial. Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will cooperate through the Brazilian Embassy in Beirut with Lebanese authorities to support the restauration project.
In the same extraordinary meeting, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee inscribed a citadel in another Arab country, Yemen, on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba, Marib, is now part of the list, thus allowing international aid to the protection of the site. The historic center of Odesa, Ukraine, was also designated a World Heritage in Danger site.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
