Archinect - News

Preserving historic Yangon

2014-12-31T00:11:00-05:00

At the heart of the plan will be the idea that downtown Yangon should retain its vibrancy rather than become another sanitized zone that appeals to well-to-do tourists impressed by expensive hotels and tony cafes, Mr. Thant Myint-U said

Jane Perlez reports in from the old colonial capital, where groups like Yangon Heritage Trust are working to preserve the distinctive charm of a now crumbling, British ostentation.

Previously noted by Alexander Walter; here, here and here

The Race to Save Architecture in Myanmar's Biggest City

2014-11-12T13:37:00-05:00

Through six decades of assault [...] the apartment building on Upper Pansodan endured, its graceful arches and colorful patios sacrificing little of their elegance and charm to the torments of time, nature, and repression. Then in 2013, three years into Myanmar's unprecedented political and economic opening up, the building succumbed to a force that proved too great to resist: development.

As Myanmar Modernizes, Architectural Gems Are Endangered

2014-06-05T13:01:00-04:00

Decades of socialism and military rule kept Myanmar — or Burma, as it was known — poor and isolated. There was one upside, though. The economy was so lousy, there was no drive to demolish the big British colonial buildings in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, and replace them with the glass and steel towers that now define much of the skylines in East Asia. [...] remarkable architectural heritage, which has come into the cross hairs of developers trying to cash in on rising land prices.