Reminders of a golden age

The design of this circular library, opened in 1972, was inspired by a straw hat. It is part of the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

January 31, 2013 

During Cambodia’s “golden age” in the late 1950s and 1960s, Swiss-Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann designed many of Cambodia's most iconic buildings as part of the country’s effort to blend both modern and traditional concepts.

Following the brutal coup d’état in 1970 that brought Cambodia’s brief peaceful and independent era to an end, Molyvann relocated to Switzerland where he worked for the UN for a decade. He returned to Cambodia in 1991 and took on various governmental leadership positions. However, many of his buildings are currently under threat from development projects and land deals.

Text and photos by Frédéric Burnand, swissinfo.ch/New Khmer Architecture 1953-1970, Bangkok, 2006.

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