(12 Dec 2022) The Neilson Hays Library in Bangkok has received an Award of Distinction at the Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
The jury’s statement noted that: “The project sets a welcome benchmark for the restoration of early 20th-century buildings of Western architectural design in humid tropical environments.”
The Neilson Hays Library was built in 1922 by Italian architect Mario Tamagno and is an enduring testament to the wave of modernization that began in the reign of King Rama V. It represents Thailand’s first community library, possibly the first English-language — and most certainly the first women-led — library in the Southeast Asia region. Since then, it has functioned continuously as an independent, community library and cultural center in the heart of Bangkok.
Read more from Bangkok Post here.
