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Modernist Architecture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh Architecture: Vann Molyvann’s Modernist Legacy

As I’ve stated before, our trip to Southeast Asia was a rather serendipitous one.  I’ve been rather singularly focused in the past 18 months on making my way through the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet nations, and had been hoping to spend this Memorial Day in the Ukraine, but luck brought us to Southeast Asia instead.  While planning our time in Southeast Asia, I struggled to find the happy medium between a total relaxing hedonistic vacation and finding meaningful cultural activities relevant to my interests.  Enter Phnom Penh’s modernist architecture!

What primarily interested me about Southeast Asia.
What primarily interested me about Southeast Asia.

Enter Phnom Penh.  Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, was where we started our trip, and to say it impressed us would be an understatement. It’s safe to say that if I were to create a pie chart of subject matter on this blog, modernist architecture would make up the lion’s share of it.  And despite knowing that Phnom Penh had been a jewel of French Indochina, I was not expecting it to be replete with amazing, funky, and downright jaw-dropping modern architecture.

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Between World War 2 and the Cambodian Civil War,  a man named Vann Molyvann founded the New Khmer style of architecture, and created the preeminent architecture style of the new Kingdom of Cambodia (1953-1970).  His buildings blended Modernist style and materials with traditional Khmer architectural elements to create startlingly beautiful structures all over the nation.  Phnom Penh’s architecture, and the country’s to a degree, was shaped by Vann Molyvann’s penchant for traditional forms and modernist angles.  For more info on the style and his work, visit the Vann Molyvann Project site.  

Enter Google, which led me to Khmer Architecture tours.  I promptly booked a private tour of 60s New Khmer Architecture, and hoped we wouldn’t be too jet lagged to go right from 22 hours of travel to some intense architecture field learning. 

My poor husband, but I digress.


Our travel, as it turns out, was incredibly easy thanks to a combination of a 2am flight from Seattle to Taipei and some light self-medication, so we were good to go when we arrived at our hotel in Phnom Penh.  Virak, our guide, picked us up after we settled in, and we were off to see a handful of Molyvann’s beauties in the New Khmer style.

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Our first stop was the 100 Houses development, west of the tourist core of Phnom Penh on the road to the airport.  They were created to resemble traditional Khmer houses, but combined with the utility of the concrete plug and chug style of building dominant in early stages of nation development.  Having traveled through many Asian nations who developed (some would say) too quickly, the 100 Houses development was a welcome change from concrete jungles I had visited in Korea and Japan.  The houses are built on stilts, as necessitated by floods in the rainy season (and sometimes persistence of vermin).  Vann Molyvann combined these traditional elements with the fine lines and geometric patterns popularized by Le Courbosier to make some truly fantastic structures.  David commented that they reminded him of the Dharma Collective houses in “Lost” – identical structures lined up, some being slowly taken over by the lush jungle greenery.  One was unoccupied, and we were able to take a peek through.DSC_0420 DSC_0422 (2) DSC_0437 DSC_0442

Sadly, many are being torn down to make way for Khmer Chinese-style McMansions.  But as is the case with development, it is all progress.  As outsiders, we can witness what remains and hope for some kind of preservation effort, but for developing nations and populations seeking modern amenities, refurbishment is inevitable.  I’m looking at you, Tbilisi.

From there we moved on to the Royal University of Phnom Penh – maybe the holy grail of architecture in Phnom Penh.  For the sake of brevity, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.  Suffice it to say that I’d happily trade in my four years at a prestigious liberal arts college in New England to spend a few years studying here, at the Institute for Foreign Language Studies:

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The architectural elements are not simply ornamental.  Originally, all of the slats and window openings were created as natural cooling systems.  Concrete, while beautiful, isn’t the most functional of materials for keeping buildings cool, so engineers had to figure out a way to use it to their advantage – the solution here being complex arrangements of angled window openings to encourage air flow.  The university’s performance hall, pictured below, was completely open to the outside until just a few years ago – when windows were added along with air conditioning.

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A surprise at the University was the library building.  I’m still at a loss for words about it, but it looks strikingly similar to many circus buildings (I’m thinking Chisinau, Moldova, in particular) still standing in the former Soviet nations.

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The final stop of the day was the Olympic Stadium, a complex of buildings housing a track, basketball court and arena, and swimming pool.  The arena is still 100% open to the elements through similar creative windows and openings, making it at least five degrees cooler than outside.  What impressed me most about the complex was its appearance of physical impossibility.  The angles, stairwells, and connections between different elements seemed Escher-esque in their intricacy.DSC_0570 DSC_0572DSC_0580 (2)DSC_0612 (2)DSC_0625DSC_0632 (2)

There was some kind of soccer game happening at the field, so folks were out in numbers – eating boiled corn and cheering on their local team.  Jutting out over the field was what appeared to be another architecturally-impossible announcer box named for Charles de Gaulle.  All around the field were groups of middle aged people dancing – a sort of impromptu Khmer Zumba.  We were told that anyone could come and for 1,000 Riel (about a $0.25), participate in a group fitness class.

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We had a wonderful time with Virak (seriously, if you take a tour with Khmer Architecture Tours, you should request him – he was incredibly kind and his passion for the architecture showed through his immense knowledge) and would take another tour with him in a heartbeat.  The tour was $60 for just over two hours, and included transportation throughout.DSC_0682 (2)

Much of the architecture we saw is in danger today.  Unregulated development combined with some’s distaste of the legacy the former Kingdom of Cambodia has led to the destruction of many, even if only replaced by empty lots or characterless Korean and Chinese apartment blocks.  So if you’re in Cambodia and interested, go look at these masterpieces – who knows how long they’ll stick around.

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Van Molyvann Pinterest


There’s talk of a film about Vann Molyvann entitled “The Man Who Built Cambodia” being released in the indie circuit in the near future.  Progress may be stalled on their Indiegogo page, but you can watch the trailer here to get the idea of the sickness of Molyvann’s style and design – as well as the tragedy around some of their destruction’s to make way for foreign investment.

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19 comments

  1. Fascinating post!

  2. Thanks, Rachel! This recent trip was full of great little surprises, architectural and otherwise! 🙂

  3. what on earth!??! i had no idea all this existed in cambodia. i literally went there for cheap beer, temples, and scenery. i didnt realize the architectural goodness right at my feet. thanks for sharing 🙂

  4. Thank you for the good writes ! This is a big encouragement for me.

  5. Thanks for taking us on the tour Virak! And we hope your move is going smoothly 😉

  6. Right?? It smacked us in the face. So stunning.

    I took like five pics at Angkor Wat and had trouble editing this post to include less than 40…

    Hope you’re well in the UK!

  7. haha well make a part two post because i want to see them all haha!

    anyways- new blog layout looks great!!! 🙂

  8. It better look great, I spent $40!

    I’m thinking of adding features at the top for “Concrete” – a catalog of the modernist buildings we’ve gone to see, and “Kitsch” – a catalog of all the crap we’ve collected on our travels. Thoughts?

  9. It’s good to see Khmer Architecture tours getting some recognition – they are a great company that offer some interesting alternatives to the regular sightseeing on offer in both Phnom Penh and Battambang. We undertook their self-guided tour whilst we were in Phnom Penh and can recommend that as well – it mainly stays downtown and around the waterfront but we also added a detour to see the White Building (another ambitious housing project) and the Olympic Stadium. You are right, if people are interested in seeing this kind of architecture, they need to go sooner rather than later. Phnom Penh is an under rated city that many skip through on the way to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor.

  10. Hi Mark – thanks for stopping by! I’m a big fan of your site, and hadn’t realized that you’d written a similar post last month. We must have similar (good) taste in subject matter! 🙂

    I must say I’m thankful that Phnom Penh hasn’t been privy to the mass tourism we experienced at Siem Reap. I’d been in both cities in 2009 and 2006, and found the difference in Siem Reap to be disheartening – but that’s another blog post. Phnom Penh, on the other hand, has always been a delight. Other than the rapid and unsustainable development the city is experiencing, I found it to be absolutely lovely. And next time I’m in Cambodia, I’ll be sure to try their self led tours – ideally in Battambang, a city I’m extremely curious about.

    Happy travels, I’m off to binge on your content.

  11. Hi Nick, on the ‘good taste’ front, I think we do – I do like a bit of brutalism. We are currently in Ukraine and heading to Moldova tomorrow, where I understand there is still plenty of good old Soviet buildings to be marvelled at??? You are bang on about Phnom Penh as well – it has lost a bit of it’s edginess in recent years but in my opinion that’s not a bad think as the city could be quite dangerous at times. It is on our short list for an extended stay next time we are in SE Asia – you can rent an apartment for not too much, the visa situation is easy, the food is good and the local Khmers are very friendly. The only downer is flight connections, which aren’t as good as Bangkok. We once stayed in Siem Reap for four months and had a great time but having been back recently, I wonder how we lasted that long – probably got through it on a haze of $0.50 beer!!!

  12. Ukraine and headed to Moldova. You’re in my fantasy land right now!

    Moldova seems to have amazing architecture – probably the Circus being the most renowned. You could probably get some great ideas from @visual_anthropology_of_moldova (instagram) if you’re keen on seeing some pretty outrageous stuff!

  13. I never wanted to go back to Cambodia, but now I’m wondering how I missed all of this when I was in Phnom Penh! I think I may have to make a trip back!

  14. I know, right? I got so lucky to have stumbled across Khmer Architecture Tours just a couple days before leaving.

    I’d also go back to Cambodia for a relaxed week or two in Kampot – loved that town!!

  15. I’ll check out the instagram link above – thanks for that!

  16. Thanks for posting this, as a Phnom Penh resident, its always nice to see people focus on the more intereting side of the city.

    Just one small point, but the airport is to the west of the city, to the east is the Mekong.

  17. Thanks for your comment – and good eye 🙂

    Hope all is well in PP, I want so badly to spend more time there.

  18. We went there in 2009, and learned about the amazing architecture in Phnom Penh. Thankfully, my friend is into crazy stuff and agreed to go for Beton Brut Day. We hired a taxi and visited the same places – and were the only white faces far and wide. We loved it. I’ts good to see they are still there in 2016. When you go next time, you could go to Kep – lots of abandoned villas, many modernist (plus one Molyvann one turned into luxury resort) and also the prerequisite relaxed holiday vibes and beach – or at least it was in 2009. Have you seen any architecture by Felix Candela in Mexico? It’s on my wish list but I am a bit unsure about independent travel in Mexico outside the tourist centres thanks to a day trip to Ciudad Juarez, perhaps not the most tourist-friendly entry point to Mexico.

  19. So glad you were able to see them. We thought they had so much tourist potential when we were there, but apparently houses from the 100 project continue to be destroyed.

    We actually stopped by Kampot and took motorbikes into Kep for the day! Agreed, so lovely there, especially before the heat of the day.

    Haven’t heard of Candela but about to look him up! I’ve been dying to go to Brasilia and Sao Paolo for ages to see Niemeyer stuff – fingers crossed as I’m hoping to overland Brasilia to Asuncion in the fall 🙂