Hasta La Ideas

The World Monuments Fund has announced its 2010 World Monuments Watch, a biennial list of at-risk cultural heritage sites. The new list consists of 93 sites from 47 countries. Along with the famous and ancient—Machu Picchu (pictured), Pakistani petroglyphs, Bhutan’s fragile Phajoding monastery—the list highlights the plight of modern architecture. Fifteen sites, including Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway, date from the 20th century. Modern buildings on the 2010 Watch include Frank Lloyd Wright‘s Taliesin and Taliesin West, in the United States, and the now-abandoned Sanatorium Joseph Lemaire, in Belgium. Also making the list is Las Pozas, the “Surrealist Xanadu” created by eccentric British artist Charles James in Xilitia, Mexico. Constructed in the mid-20th century, the series of canals, pools, and architectural follies is now crumbling and being engulfed by the surrounding jungle, according to the WMF.

“With a greater number of urban centers and cultural landscapes, this year’s Watch reflects a growing understanding that heritage cannot be preserved in isolation, but rather must be addressed as part of a broad physical and social context,” explained Erica Avrami, WMF’s Research and Education Director, in a statement accompanying the 2010 list. “Not all sites on the Watch are in imminent danger. Many face challenges on the horizon, providing the opportunity to engage in dialogue and decision-making now, so as to avoid problems in the future.”

Read on for the full WMF 2010 World Monuments Watch list.

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