UNESCO remembers Andrea Bruno

Andrea Bruno, a master of contemporary restoration and long-standing collaborator of UNESCO, passed away on 6 July 2025, as the 47^th session of the World Heritage Committee was opening its proceedings. Through his work on such World Heritage sites as the Minaret of Jam, the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley, the monuments of Herat in Afghanistan, Bagrati Cathedral in Georgia, and numerous historic buildings in his native Turin, Italy, Andrea Bruno made an enduring and indelible contribution to the safeguarding of some of the world’s most iconic World Heritage sites.

Graduating in architecture from the Polytechnic of Turin in 1956, he taught there from 1976 to 1990, before joining the Milan Polytechnic as professor of architectural restoration in 1991. He also served as Director of the Programme for Architectural and Urban Heritage Conservation at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, and lectured at ICCROM in Rome. From 1974 onwards, he advised UNESCO on cultural heritage, undertaking numerous missions across the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, often in highly sensitive contexts affected by conflict or political instability.

His dedication and expertise were particularly evident in Afghanistan, where he led the conservation programme for the Minaret of Jam. He designed erosion defences, consolidated the structure, safeguarded its intricate decoration, and trained generations of local workers to ensure its long-term preservation.

Andrea Bruno's legacy in architectural and heritage conservation is distinguished by his innovative approach to restoration, producing results of lasting significance and establishing standards that have become exemplars in international practice.

He will be remembered as a profoundly knowledgeable and widely respected figure in the field of cultural heritage, whose commitment to World Heritage endures both in the monuments he helped preserve and in the generations of heritage professionals he inspired.