Archinect - News

Foster + Partners begins construction on Cambodia airport under canopy roof

2024-01-09T10:59:00-05:00

Construction is underway at Foster + Partners’ Techo International Airport in Cambodia. Located 16 miles south of central Phnom Penh, the project seeks to embody “a strong sense of place, drawing inspiration from one of the oldest civilizations on earth, inspired by its vernacular forms, and responsive to the tropical climate.”

The terminal comprises a central mass flanked by two aerofoil-shaped piers on either side. The central mass contains all passenger processing, security and immigration, and retail elements under an overarching roof canopy that stretches from the drop-off to the airside. The roof canopy itself is comprised of a lightweight steel grid shell with a screen to filter daylight into the terminal space.

Image credit: Foster + Partners

Inside, the scheme’s material palette is designed to be “warm and welcoming, evoking the Cambodian vernacular in a contemporary manner.” The interior is further softened by mature trees rising in a central void surrounded by edge planti...

An altered AD photoshoot landed one wealthy Bay Area couple in hot water over potentially looted Cambodian relics

2022-08-16T16:23:00-04:00

The January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest featured a remodeled $42 million San Francisco residence described as a Spanish Renaissance Revival palacio. [...] ...shows ancient Khmer sculptures resting on the same pedestals. The Cambodian government says those stone relics, depicting the heads of gods and demons, match a set that was looted years ago from one of the nation’s sacred sites.

The tony $42 million Peter Marino-designed San Francisco manse was the subject of a multi-page spread in the January 2021 edition of the magazine. A spokesperson for Architectural Digest said that photoshopping was required by “unresolved publication rights around select artworks,” but an eagle-eyed attorney working for Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts who originally spotted the empty plinths indicated their resemblance to a pair allegedly taken from one of the country's most sacred sites a few years ago.

“It’s easily one of the most important statues in the temple, and probably all of Koh Ker,” Bradley J. Gordon is reported to have told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). “By having this in their collection, the Lindemanns essentially had the Cambodian equivalent of a sarcophagus stolen from King Tut’s tomb sitting in their living room.”

...

Proposed theme park near Angkor Wat temple complex rejected, for now

2021-03-29T15:40:00-04:00

Cambodia’s Culture and Fine Arts Ministry has rejected a proposal by the Hong Kong casino operator NagaCorp to build a resort and theme park near the sprawling Angkor Wat temple complex after concerns raised by Unesco. The government’s rejection of NagaCorp’s plan to develop 75 hectares of land located around 500m south of the protected buffer zone of Angkor was announced earlier this week, according to Cambodian media outlets.

While a theme park of the proposed size near the Angkor Archaeological Park appears to be off the table for now, a Cambodian government spokesperson indicated potential openness to a scaled-down version in the future, The Art Newspaper reports.

Angkor Archaeological Park: major conservation milestone reached in Cambodia

2019-06-14T13:51:00-04:00

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is celebrating a milestone in its ongoing work at the Angkor archaeological park in Cambodia: the completion of a decade-long $4.8m conservation effort on the eastern side of Phnom Bakheng, one of the site’s oldest temples.

Restoration work on the eastern half of the ancient temple is now complete. Image courtesy of WMF.

"WMF’s work at Angkor began with a 1989 field mission to evaluate the damage it had suffered following 20 years of civil strife and international isolation," explains the World Monuments Fund website. "The team discovered that Angkor’s caretakers and many educated Cambodians had fled or died under the Khmer Rouge, leaving a capacity void for the site’s conservation. Encouraged by the Ministry of Culture, WMF developed recommendations to address fundamental preservation issues at four sites: Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Preah Khan, and Ta Som."

The western half of Phnom Bakheng is still in dire need of restoration work. Photo: Amine Birdouz, courtesy of WMF.

"Phnom Bakheng, the state temple of the first Khmer capital constructed between the ninth and tenth centuries, survives as one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures. In 2004, World Monuments Fund began its initial engagement a...

Renowned Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann dies at the age of 90

2017-09-29T09:34:00-04:00

Mr. Vann Molyvann was best known for combining modernist principles with ancient motifs, a style that came to be called New Khmer Architecture. He was admired by many Cambodians as the embodiment of integrity and vision in a country where art has often taken a back-seat to the upheavals of history.

Molyvann studied at École des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 1940s, where he learned the principles of European modernism from Le Corbusier's disciples. In 1956 he returned to Cambodia to be appointed as the chief state architect of the newly independent country. He designed and transformed Phnom Penh, the country's capital. After the coup of 1970 by the Khmer Rouge, Molyvann exiled and lived in Switzerland until 1991, when he came back to Cambodia and served as culture minister.

"Vann Molyvann was best known for combining modernist principles with ancient motifs, a style that came to be called New Khmer Architecture. He was admired by many Cambodians as the embodiment of integrity and vision in a country where art has often taken a back-seat to the upheavals of history."

Molyvann passed away at home at age 90 on September 28th, 2017.

WW+P-Designed School Opens in Cambodia

2017-06-02T01:03:00-04:00

A new school in rural Cambodia, designed and built pro-bono by Weston Williamson + Partners officially opens on June 1, International Children’s Day.

WW+P worked with Engenuiti, Integration and Building Trust International to design a building which was flexible and adaptable to meet current and future needs. It comprises three additional classrooms, a library and a covered external classroom with a sunken play area, which doubles as a small amphitheatre.

Until now the school in Khyaung village, 40km north east of Phnom Penh City, has catered for 359 pupils aged 3-17 in two old buildings. The lack of accommodation has meant that children travelling from six surrounding villages to this, the area’s only school catering for children up to secondary age, had to attend in shifts, part-time.

From February to April this year, a team of designers from WW+P’s London studio led by architect Abul Mahdi, assisted the local farming community with the construction on a two-week rotation. The tea...

Archaeologists discover hidden ancient cities in Cambodia, some as big as Phnom Penh

2016-06-13T16:07:00-04:00

Archaeologists in Cambodia have found multiple, previously undocumented medieval cities not far from the ancient temple city of Angkor Wat...Some experts believe that the recently analysed data – captured in 2015 during the most extensive airborne study ever undertaken by an archaeological project, covering 734 sq miles (1,901 sq km) – shows that the colossal, densely populated cities would have constituted the largest empire on earth at the time of its peak in the 12th century.

“That survey uncovered an array of discoveries, including elaborate water systems that were built hundreds of years before historians believed the technology existed. The findings are expected to challenge theories on how the Khmer empire developed, dominated the region, and declined around the 15th century, and the role of climate change and water management in that process.”

Preservation politics and pricey prizes: Weekly News Round-Up for October 14, 2014

2014-10-20T20:51:00-04:00

Sunday, October 19:

The Portland Building: Architect Michael Graves fiercely defends his controversial creation against demolition: According to The Oregonian's piece, the architect does not think any of the problems are by his design, but rather its application under budgetary and civic constraints.

Thursday, October 16:

Unesco threatens to put Venice on its Heritage at Risk list: Responding to corruption and mismanagement of environmental risks by the Venetian government, UNESCO may have to declare Venice a "Heritage at Risk".

Wednesday, October 15:

Honolulu Law Criminalizes Homelessness: It is now a misdemeanor in the popular tourist destination of Waikiki to "sit or lie on sidewalks", punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a maximum $1,000 fine.

Tuesday, October 14:

Maya Lin wins the 21st Annual $300K Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize: At $300,000 USD, the prize is one of the US's largest, afforded to artists working to affect social change.
Petrified Forest buildings named national treasu...

The Sleuk Rith Institute: Zaha Hadid's soft hymn to Cambodia's fallen

2014-10-13T18:05:00-04:00

Built to house a vast archive of documents about the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s, in which two million people lost their lives, the Sleuk Rith Institute is to be a radical shift for its architect Zaha Hadid – who has gone from violent geometry to warm wood

Inside the famous Phnom Penh cinema that has become a living nightmare

2014-07-28T15:19:00-04:00

The Hemakcheat was once one of Cambodia’s most beloved cinemas and Meas Sopheap one of its star dancers. Today it is a notorious slum, and Meas one of hundreds who shelter there. [...] Hundreds of men, women and children shelter here, many on the ground-floor auditorium where they are shrouded in permanent darkness among hundreds of bats that screech and flap their wings constantly. [...] More waste falls from makeshift floors constructed above. The rotten stench of sewage is overpowering.

The Canadian Company Drowning in Phnom Penh’s Garbage

2014-06-09T13:22:00-04:00

In 2002, CINTRI, a branch of Canadian firm Cintec Environment Inc., was granted an exclusive 50-year contract to collect commercial and residential waste in Phnom Penh and keep the city’s main streets clean. The exact details of the company’s agreement with city hall have never been made public, but since the deal was inked, Phnom Penh’s population has swelled from just over one million to two million people. The population boom and its attendant urban sprawl seem to have caught CINTRI off-guard

Winning designs of Cambodian Sustainable Housing competition now built

2014-04-18T13:45:00-04:00

It's a well-known fact that a safe and comfortable home is essential to one's well-being. From Building Trust International's 2013 "The Future of Sustainable Housing in Cambodia" competition, over 600 registered entrants proposed sustainable housing solutions for low-income families in Cambodia. The jury -- which also comprised of the families who moved into their new homes -- chose 3 joint-winning designs recently constructed in Phnom Penh.

The winners are:

Courtyard House by Jess Lumley & Alexander Koller (UK)

Open Embrace by Keith Greenwald and Lisa Ekle (USA)

Wet + Dry House by Mary Ann Jackson, Ralph Green, Muhammad Kamil & Nick Shearman of Visionary Design Development Pty Ltd. (Australia)

More details on Bustler.

Also check out our recent feature of Building Trust International's "Moved to Care" competition results.