Architecture Monumental Task: Funding the Race Against Time

By KAREN MAZURKEWICH
January 18, 2006; Page D13

Pingyao, China

Three years ago, looters smashed through the wooden doors of a temple in Gong village and stole sacred bronze buddhas inside the 1,000-year-old heritage site. Now a village elder has bought a dog to scare off unwanted visitors. "Thieves have come 14 times in 11 years," says Chen Yan Wen, who is paid a small salary to guard the entrance. Even the stone statues that date back to the Tang Dynasty (618-906) are not safe from pick-ax pillagers. Today, the temple is boarded up.

Protecting the old architecture of China is a race against time, and rapid development and demand from the antiques trade are destroying the last vestiges of ancient wood temples and homes in Shanxi province -- buildings that, until now, survived because of their isolation. The former mansions in this northern region of China, a once-prosperous hub along the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, lie in decay. What the older residents still value -- the terra-cotta roof tiles, latticed doors and courtyards -- are of little interest to their children, who want to sell out for a gleaming new apartment. Windows, doors, beams and roof tiles, torn from structures, make beautiful room dividers and wall hangings in New York lofts and Miami beach houses. The scavengers are circling.

Today, one of the few organizations standing between architectural extinction and salvation is Global Heritage Fund, a California-based nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Jeff Morgan -- the son of a Silicon Valley magnate and a 16-year veteran of that high-tech world himself -- and archaeological expert Ian Hodder.

The Global Heritage Fund protects Third World architecture, including this Chinese temple in the village of Gong that houses statues that date back to the Tang Dynasty.

The Global Heritage Fund protects Third World architecture, including this Chinese temple in the village of Gong that houses statues that date back to the Tang Dynasty.

Mr. Morgan, 43, switched careers after an old family friend, Steven McCormick, president and CEO of Nature Conservancy, suggested a job change. Having just cashed out of his second high-tech start-up, he took the advice to heart, launching this new venture that focuses on restoring endangered world heritage sites. In just four years, the organization has raised more than $5 million for 10 major sites world-wide, including the ruins of the Champa kingdom of the fourth to 13th centuries in My Son, Vietnam, and the ancient city of Kars, in Eastern Turkey, which dates back to the Ottoman Empire.

"I'm looking to start the next Machu Picchu or the next Angkor Wat...a place that has monumental architecture but has no investment, is not protected and the people haven't figured how to take advantage of it," says Mr. Morgan. "We are a fairly small outfit, but we are cherry picking the best [cultural heritage] sites in each country, which shows me just how bad the situation is," says Mr. Morgan.

The Unesco World Heritage Fund, which has a minuscule budget of $4 million, has identified more than 800 endangered world heritage sites, and there are hundreds more on the waiting list. But only a handful of organizations have targeted the architectural wonders of the world. Global Heritage Fund distinguishes itself from competitors such as World Monuments Fund by the fact that it works exclusively in the Third World and on major cradles of civilization, whereas World Monuments Fund endows many projects in Western Europe and the U.S., including churches and even the World Trade Center. Global Heritage Fund also targets sites that can be developed for tourism to ensure long-term sustainability.

Although Guatemala's Mirador Basin, considered the cradle of Mayan civilization, is one of the Global Heritage Fund's higher-profile projects, attracting donations from the likes of Hollywood heavyweight Mel Gibson, the organization is increasingly turning its gaze on the poor regions of Western China. The reason is two-fold. Not only has China asked Unesco to recognize more cultural sites than any other nation, but Global Heritage Fund has strong ties with Chinese-American philanthropists who have a cultural stake in preserving China's heritage. To mine such sentiment, the fund recently organized a tour to Shanxi to attract potential donors.

For Betty Ko and Susan Tai, the promise of a financial pledge to the fund meant a one-week trip in Shanxi guided by Bill Wu, founder of the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, and many other perks, including a private tour of a provincial museum temporarily closed to the public and sumptuous meals with Chinese officials from the Cultural Relics Bureau. But best of all was the chance to personally select which temple their money would restore.

"There are so many things that need help and aren't getting it," says Ms. Ko -- the wife of Wen Ko, founder of the Taiwan-based venture capital company WK Technology Fund -- after visiting the 10th-century Zhenguo temple. Despite the temple's importance and bad state of disrepair, Ms. Ko rejects it as a funding option. The locals aren't investing in its preservation, which means there would be no natural local partner -- one of the foundation's requirements.

Next up: the Ming dynasty Shuang Lin Temple. Strolling inside its dark wooden cavity, Ms. Ko shakes her head at the dozens of dusty statues inside. The temple has survived wars and the Cultural Revolution. Beneath the dirt-encrusted walls, which once boasted political slogans, there are frescoes dating back to the 15th century. Armed with video cameras and flashlights, she and Ms. Tai, who works for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, scrutinize the wall. Their host, Ren Yiming, director of preservation of Shanxi Institute Cultural Heritage Preservation, is trying to convince them that the old paintings can be recovered -- with some financial assistance, of course.

The temple is one that the local government desperately wants to preserve, but Ms. Ko and Ms. Tai are more impressed by the Taoist Houtu Temple, in the town of Jiexiu. It features a massive theatrical stage and some of the oldest ceramic roof tiles in China. And there is another plus: The local officials have already developed a master plan to restore it. Ms. Tai is aware that her donation is a powerful incentive for local government to invest more money itself. "On one hand," she says, "they are very appreciative; but, on the other, we are slightly shaming them, so they will feel a responsibility to do it properly."

Pei Wei Dong, Houtu's site director, brings out lychees, plums, hot tea and the master plan for his guests. Ms. Tai and Ms. Ko literally roll up their sleeves and spend the next hour poring over the survey.

The Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai, a Tang dynasty architectural jewel from the ninth century, is a contender, too. There are only five Tang dynasty buildings left in the world: four in Shanxi province. Despite the fact that Global Heritage Fund donors helped raise $320,000 to restore part of the temple complex, and the provincial and central government matched funding, an additional $1 million is needed to complete that project, and three of the other Tang sites need immediate help as well.

Saving the "Four Tangs" has a nice ring, and Ms. Ko, a collector of Tang era artifacts, is leaning toward funding this group of temples. At the end of the trip, both she and Ms. Tai pledge $50,000 toward the Tang project.

But Mr. Morgan isn't counting the Houtu site out just yet. Impressed with Mr. Pei's commitment, he's recommending to his board that the site be given some early financing to look at the feasibility of restoration. "Without funds from foreign partners, it would be tough to preserve these temples, Mr. Pei says.

Ms. Mazurkewich is a writer based in Toronto.

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