The Art Newspaper

L’Aquila staggers towards recovery on fourth anniversary of quake

Some restoration projects are finally under way, but for residents it is too little too late

Published online: 01 April 2013

Unesco raising $11m to save Mali’s heritage

Ancient manuscripts and historical sites in Timbuktu damaged by rebels

Published online: 21 February 2013

Solidarity after Sandy

New Yorkers set aside rivalries, lending a hand to the worst hit

Published online: 06 December 2012

Post-storm recovery starts at New York’s art spaces

Chelsea and downtown galleries are hardest hit, but museums and auction houses uptown reopen

Published online: 01 November 2012

L’Aquila: scientists found guilty of manslaughter

Uproar as officials sentenced to six years in jail for failing to correctly predict the scale of the earthquake

Published online: 25 October 2012

Gallery:  The damage in New Zealand

Conservation societies are up in arms over the widespread, and in many cases unnecessary, demolition of historic buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand, following a series of earthquakes in the region. The government’s plans to demolish 50% of buildings within the city’s Central Business District (CBD)—30% more than in poverty-stricken Haiti—has experts questioning the government’s commitment to heritage and the competence of the bodies tasked with safeguarding these properties. Campaigners say that new disaster recovery legislation supersedes laws designed to protect historic structures, leaving them vulnerable to property owners who may opt to start from scratch rather than restore. They also say that this destruction will have a knock-on effect on historic properties throughout New Zealand as insurance premiums skyrocket.