The Southern Library was the most deteriorated among
the buildings of the Bayon Temple complex, and was closed
off to tourists, given its extremely dangerous condition.
The original masonry structure, composed of some 2600
sandstone elements, had greatly deformed in places, causing
risk of collapse in the upper structure and an outflow
and weakening of the compacted soil inside the platform.
In this project, we are restoring the building by dismantling
part of the building and restacking all stone elements
after restoring deteriorated elements, compensating for
lost parts with new materials, and strengthening the platform
interior. Young Cambodian experts and workers who have
honed their skills in past restoration activities are
now taking on the challenge of completing the series of
work on restoring the Southern Library by themselves,
in consultation with Shimoda Ichita, a resident Japanese
expert dispatched by the Japan Foundation.
