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Vann Molyvann & Cambodia

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Vann Molyvann & Cambodia Vann Molyvann and His Threatened Architectural Legacy. The innovative Khmer architect Vann Molyvann almost single-handedly changed the face of Phnom Penh during an amazing period of architectural flowering between 1953 and 1970. After the country’s independence from France in 1953, the new King Norodom Sihanouk commissioned more than 100 buildings from a group of young, contemporary architects in an attempt to make the capital symbolise a confident and forward looking attitude. Vann Molyvann was barely thirty, just four years younger than the King, and had recently returned from Paris where he had studied with Le Corbusier at l’Ecole des Beaux Arts. Virtually alone his architecture launched what has become known as “New Khmer Architecture”, but which is now under threat from uncontrolled new development. Phnom Penh was already endowed with several modern architectural gems such as the 1937 deco-inspired Central Market and the 1932 Railway Station, but Vann wished to apply Le Corbusier’s ideas within a distinct Khmer style addressing also the problems of extreme heat and monsoon flooding that are part of Cambodia’s climate. Now 81, Vann still lives in his 1960’s self-designed house on Mao Tse Tung Boulevard, and says “We could not simply repeat things as they were done in Europe, we needed to think with new ideas and to build with a Cambodian approach.” A striking example of the threat to his legacy can be found in the story of the National Theatre, also known as the Tonle Bassac Theatre. a tour de force of 1960’s modernism with sharp angles, walls of glass and whimsical interior spaces from 1964. Alas a disastrous fire gutted most of it in 1994, destroying the distinctive glass pyramid on the top. Despite the present King’s urging, it was never rebuilt, deteriorated badly, and was eventually bought by a development group and demolished completely in 2008. Arguably his most famous work, the 1963-64 National Sports Complex is a seamlessly integrated 60,000 seat stadium, an 8,000 seat indoor sports hall, Olympic sized swimming pool and tennis courts on a 96-acre site. Inside the hall, there’s a surprisingly airy feel, with light and air filtering through the multitude of vents in the walls. Pools and waterways run beside the walkways controlling the monsoon deluges and helping to cool the surrounding air. All these facets make reference to the architectural features of the temples of Angkor. Regrettably this too has been unsympathetically “vandalised” during a so-called restoration carried out by a Taiwanese company in 2000. The company was to restore the complex in return for the right to build on part of the adjacent ground. However the developers filled in Molyvann’s carefully planned ponds, thus leading to flooding of the area, threw up right next to the stadium a cheap and ugly retail complex, and have actually left the stadium unrestored. It is this fusing of the ancient and modern that runs through and identifies Vann Molyvann architecture; Independence Monument reflects the Arc de Triomph yet is modelled on the main tower of Angkor Wat; the Chaktomuk Conference Hall, a thoroughly modern building takes as its shape the fan-palm; and there are many other references throughout his work. Perhaps the most striking reference to Angkor can be seen at the Institute for Foreign Languages, which can be found on Pochentong Boulevard next to the Royal University. Originally designed to be a teacher training college it can be reached by a long elevated walkway with modernist version of nagas - the stone serpents guarding the Angkor temples. Modernist materials are here adapted to traditional uses; brick and concrete structures are designed to minimise direct sunlight and maximise airflow, and also to control flooding risk. The Library is modelled after traditional woven palm-leaf hats and the lecture theatres are cantilevered on angled “legs” providing shade underneath and endowing them with vigorous energy. But even here neglect and decay and a lack of sympathy for the design are evident. Maintenance is very poor, ponds have been filled in, paving laid instead of grassed areas, and new blocks have now been built close to the original structures that are totally out of keeping and style. One could go on and on but I would encourage any visitor to Cambodia and in particular to Phnom Penh to seek these buildings out and admire them before it is too late. I provide links to the specialised KA Tours which take one to areas of the city not usually on the tourist trail - please go before it’s too late!.
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