The Culture Unit at the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe is pleased to announce that UNESCO, in collaboration with The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), is developing an exhibition under the provisional title “Deep Surface: Polyfunctional architecture to enhance the experience of UNESCO designated sites”, planned to take place within the premises of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice, Italy) from 10 May to 23 November 2025, in concurrence with the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
The exhibition aims to explore the context-specific architectural and functional features of Visitor Centres in UNESCO designated sites, namely World Heritage Sites, Biosphere Reserves and UNESCO Global Geoparks, and notably their experiences and good practices regarding heritage interpretation, education, community-oriented services, enhancement of cognitive and physical accessibility of sites, and sustainable tourism management. The exhibition will especially showcase Visitor Centres that excelled through distinguished architectural practice in achieving the objectives of the concerned systems of UNESCO designations, while operating in alignment with the related operational and normative frameworks.
Please note that the non-exhaustive definition of Visitor Centre within the present framework refers to any kind of physical facility integrated within site management systems to officially provide dedicated services for supporting the presentation, interpretation, access to, and sustainable visit of UNESCO designated sites.
In order to identify Visitor Centres in UNESCO designated sites willing to contribute to the exhibition, the attached Call for Participation has been just released. The Call specifically targets UNESCO designates sites, including World Heritage Sites, encouraging the relevant managing bodies and/or Visitor Centres to apply. The Call will remain open until 13 October 2024 (23:59 CET).
For any clarification, you may contact the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe at [email protected]
For full details, click here.
Image: Alex McCoskrie/WHUK