Building History

The Vann Molyvann Project is an international collaborative effort to record and help preserve the iconic postmodern works of Cambodia's most famous architect, Vann Molyvann.Founded in 2009 by Canadian architect Bill Greaves with the mission to document, archive and publish Vann's oeuvre, the project now involves a team from Cambodia and abroad.

While post-war Cambodian architecture may not be familiar to much of the world, for a short, glorious period from the mid-1950s — when the small Southeast Asian country declared independence from France — to 1970, when a military coup overthrew Vann's sponsor Norodom Sihanouk, the Kingdom was a beacon of postmodernism, with Vann at the forefront in his position as the nation's chief architect.

Uniquely combining traditional Khmer forms with the influence of Le Corbusier, Vann created building after building that reimagined Phnom Penh. He oversaw the construction of more than 60 buildings, each one making an instant mark on the local skyline — which, admittedly, was a lot lower than the skyscraper-adorned city emerging today — including many that still stand, such as the National Sports Complex, affectionately known as Olympic Stadium, and the Chaktomuk Conference Hall, with its fanshaped roof looking out towards the Mekong. Sadly, many more have been lost through decades of conflict and the march of development. With most of his blueprints burnt during Khmer Rouge rule, which sought to restart history with its declaration of Year Zero, every piece of Vanndesigned architecture that falls would see it lost forever if not for the dedication of people like Greaves and project director Pen Sereypagna.

‘The label “New Khmer Architecture” refers to the Cambodian modern architecture movement during Sihanouk's Sangkum Reastr Niyum (‘Community of the Common People') period,' Pen explains. Launched in 1955, the Sihanoukled architecture movement aimed to combine

Western technique and design with Cambodian tradition and culture. The term first appeared in magazines, journals and books about Cambodia in the 1960s, but was not well known locally. However, says Pen, it was enthusiastically shared among politicians, educated Cambodians and the international community. ‘It was a political statement that modern Cambodia had arrived.'

The movement did not endure long, though, with Lon Nol's 1970 military coup forcing Sihanouk and Vann into exile and leading to the four tumultuous years of Pol Pot's rule. Subsequently, there was a catalogue of conflict, including Vietnamese invasion and occupation, and a brutal civil war between local factions, eventually ended by a tenuous peace treaty signed in 1991. Remarkably, though, most of Vann's designs did not fall victim to missiles or bullets, but to commercial greed, their removal making way for the unremarkable high-rises that are a sad symbol of economic growth. Those remaining include his iconic Angkor-inspired Independence Monument, the Olympic Stadium and his own residence, a 1966 masterpiece recently put on the market.

Standing or not, Vann's projects live on in the work of Greaves, Pen and their team. In addition to documenting, the project raises awareness of Vann's works through exhibitions, lectures, conferences, workshops and festivals. In partnership with national and international institutions, they foster collaboration between young Cambodian and foreign architects, students, researchers, artists and curators, connecting them to these works of Cambodian modern heritage. But the project also creates domestic connections. ‘During the time of the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 to 1979, not only were millions of lives lost, but almost all archival documents were destroyed,' says Pen. ‘This atrocity left huge gaps in Cambodian history and a disconnect between generations. Through our documenting and collaborating, we seek to bridge those gaps.'