The White Building of Phnom Penh was an ambitious project to create low cost city centre housing in the 1960s. The project was overseen by Vann Molyvann, the first Cambodian architect educated in France. He studied under Le Corbusier and the White Building design was heavily influenced by Le Corbusier’s utopian project Ville Radieuse.
The stark concrete building blocks, called ‘brutalist architecture’ is distinctive & echoes similar buildings in Brasilia, Marseille and post-war re-constructions in Germany.
Today, the White Building is a slum of dilapidated & condemned units. It is still home to over 2000 people. It is slated for destruction but is under scrutiny for historical preservation.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – April, 2015
The Sandy Chronicles 
1 Comment