Welcome to Khmer Architecture Tours

KATours aims to widen the understanding of
contemporary architectural design in Cambodia

Our tours focus on buildings erected after Cambodia's independence in 1953, described as 'New Khmer Architecture', while setting these in the historical context of Phnom Penh

We offer regular tours on the second and fouth weekend of each month.
Please scroll down for information on how to book and details of each tour...

And please email us if you would like to discuss a special 'custom' tour, which we can offer depending on staff availability, which usually is limited to weekends.
Email: contact(at)ka-tours.org

Regular tours:

Sunday 24 January 10
Front du Bassac and the Chaktomuk Theatre

Sunday 14 February 10
Central Phnom Penh by cyclo

Saturday 27 February 10
University buildings on the Boulevard Russie

Sunday 14 March 10
Central Phnom Penh by cyclo

Sunday 28 March 10
1960s houses and villas in Toul Kork

Sunday 11 April 10
Central Phnom Penh by cyclo

Sunday 25 April 10
National Sports Complex (Olympic Stadium)

Sunday 9 May 10
Central Phnom Penh by cyclo

Sunday 23 May 10
Front du Bassac and the Chaktomuk Theatre

How to book:

For all tours, please email us at contact(at)ka-tours.org with your request for places; and please include names and mobile telephone numbers, and which tour you would like. We will email you back with joining details and contact numbers. All tours start at 8.30am except where noted. Thanks!

Details of tours:

Central Phnom Penh by cyclo
This tour explores central Phnom Penh and includes Colonial buildings as well as modern, post-independence architecture. Meant to be a brief introduction to the city, the tour includes a selection of well-known buildings as well as some less obvious examples.

Traveling by cyclo (a Cambodian bicycle-powered rickshaw) is a special way of experiencing the streets and buildings of the city; we aim to enter some buildings and see others from the pavement or the cyclo. We explore the district around the old Post Office, then go south to the area south-east of the Central Market.

We start at 8.30am and aim to return after around 2.5 - 3hrs including a short drinks stop;15 adult places. Cost is $12 per person including the cyclo hire and English speaking guides. Children are free if they share a cyclo with an adult.

PS The tour takes place normally on the second Sunday of each month, but can be arranged to run at different times on request.
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1960s houses and villas in Phnom Penh (Toul Kork)
This tour visits three locations:
• The well-known '100 Houses' development, designed by Vann Molyvann and commissioned in the 1965 by the National Bank of Cambodia for its staff; these 100 or so identical houses are a thoughtful reinterpretation of the traditional Khmer house - some are still (just) in their original state.
• A Doctors' House: A remarkable villa of the same period which has an exuberant, three-storey high entrance hall which dominates the design; now a Health Centre.
• The Double Stair House: A family villa - a rich blend of materials, form, light and air which creates a delightful residence - built to keep cool on the hottest of days.

We meet in town and travel by bus. Start at 8.30am, end around 11.30am.
Cost: $1 Cambodians, $8 Others. Children over 12 are welcome.
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National Sports Complex (Olympic Stadium)
The National Sports Complex, known as the Olympic Stadium (photos 3 and 4), was built in 1963-4 to accommodate the GANEFO games of 1964 and became the location for the reception of many visiting dignitaries and state occasions. Designed by Vann Molyvann, the remarkable and heroic complex has been renovated and brought back into popular use by sporty Cambodians. We will visit the stadium which seats 84,000, the sports-hall with its amazing concrete 'mushroom' roof, and the Olympic-size swimming/diving pools.

We meet at the National Sports Complex. Start at 8.30am, end around 10.30am.
Cost: Cambodians: $1. Others: $5. Children over 12 are welcome. ....................................................................................................................
University Buildings in Phnom Penh
We visit (photos 5-10) three remarkable, 1960s campuses on the Russian Boulevard: the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (Soviet designers), the 'modern baroque' Institute of Foreign Languages (a group of three buildings by Vann Molyvann, his last work of the 1970s) and the Royal University of Phnom Penh by Leroy and Mondet.

We meet in town and travel by bus. Start at 8.30am, end around 11.30am.
Cost: $1 Cambodians, $8 Others. Children over 12 are welcome.
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The Front du Bassac and the Chaktomuk Conference Hall
Following the demolition of the National Theatre building, this tour now takes in another nearby public building designed by Vann Molyvann, the Chaktomuk Conference Hall. Opened in 1961, it was refurbished and reopened in 2000, principally as a conference hall but is regularly used as a theatre venue for special events.

We first take a short walk around the area known as the Front du Bassac, planned in the 1960s to be a 'civic and cultural centre', and look briefly at the Grey Building; we visit an apartment in the White Building, before walking to the conference hall to see the interior and exterior.

Start at 8.30am and end around 10.30am. Children over 12 are welcome. Cost is $1 Cambodians, $5 Others.

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Walking Map:
Do your own tour of central Phnom Penh

Map 1 is available for you to download and try out. All comments/suggestions gratefully received. This updated version includes the sites of 2 buildings on the earlier version which have been demolished...

To download, click here for the new front page (790kb), and here for the new back page (312kb), print them back-to-back to save paper, then fold in three for a handy, full-of-info guide to some of the most interesting streets in central Phnom Penh. The map is free for personal use; copying for commercial use only with our permission.

Thanks to Tobias Olsson for all the foot-slogging and pedal-turning research.
For some user-feedback, please see the top right hand of this page.

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Notes on the cultural context of the architecture we focus on:

For Cambodia, the late 1950s and 1960s was a period of dynamic cultural and political ambition, which resulted in an extensive programme of building.

The far-reaching cultural and social vision for Cambodia was reflected in the new architecture of the time; uniquely this focused on integrating an international style with local tradition, materials and climate.

The resulting style has been called ‘New Khmer Architecture’ and is beginning to be recognised as an important artistic milestone in 20th century Cambodian culture.

Darryl Collins, Helen Grant Ross and Hok Sokol have carried out extensive original research into the architecture of the 50s and 60s; see 'Building Cambodia: New Khmer Architecture 1953-1970', listed below.

The innovative cultural scene of the late 50's and the 60s is discussed in the Reyum book 'Cultures of Independence':
"The period following independence in Cambodia seems to have been marked by a willingness to expand and incorporate new elements, looking both outside and inside the newly independent nation for available methods and materials with which to build a modern culture. An emerging urban elite undertook the task of conceiving, defining, and building a "modern Khmer culture". Whether consciously or not, most of their work took up questions of how to create forms that would be recognised as both Cambodian and modern. In other words, for example how to create a contemporary architecture which incorporated ideas of international modernism while still keeping a local specificity, or how to take forms established elsewhere - such as the novel or cinema - and produce these forms as part of Cambodian culture."

Useful reference material:

'Building Cambodia: New Khmer Architecture 1953-1970' by Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Collins, 2006, ISBN: 974934121X

'Cultures of Independence, An introduction to Cambodian Arts and Culture in the 1950s and 1960s' edited by Ly Daravuth and Ingrid Muan, published by Reyum, Phnom Penh, 2001.

'Modern Khmer Cities' by Vann Molyvann, published by Reyum, Phnom Penh, 2003.

'Phnom Penh a l'aube du XXIe siecle' by Phnom Penh Bureau des Affaires Urbaines, published by Atelier Parisienne d'Urbanisme, Paris, 2003.

'Phnom Penh developpment urbain et patrimoine' by Ministere de la Culture and Atelier Parisienne d'Urbanisme, Paris, 1997.

'Phnom Penh Then and Now' by Michel Igout, published by White Lotus, Bangkok, 1993.

'Before Kampuchea' by Milton Osborne, published by Orchid Press, Bangkok, 2004.

Links:

SangSalapak : Building Arts - organise occasional architectural events and lectures: www.sangsalapak.org.kh

Reyum Institute of Art and Culture - research and publishing on cultural issues:
www.reyum.org

Photos of buildings in Cambodia:
www.johncaserta.com/khmerarch

Architecture Link in the UK - info on architecture tours internationally:
http://architecturelink.org.uk/ArchTours2.html

Fans of Modern Khmer Architecture - images:
http://delicious.com/fmka
www.flickr.com/photos/32421609@N07/sets

The Vann Molyvann Project:
www.vannmolyvannproject.org

1 Chaktomuk Conference Hall.

2 National Sports Complex

3 National Sports Complex

4 Institute of Technology (ITC)

5 Inst of Foreign Languages

6 Inst of Foreign Languages

7 Royal Univ of Phnom Penh

8 Royal Univ of Phnom Penh

9 100 Houses

10 Double stair house

11 Sihanoukville Station

12 Sihanoukville Station

The buildings pictured in 1-10 above are included in our tours. 11-12 are Sihanoukville Station - go see it yourself!

Thanks to Astrid Diehl for photo 2 (National Sports Complex, swimming pool block). Other photos by Geoff Pyle.

News Update: 16 Jan 2010

> New dates for tours... please book early.

People say...

> "I just wanted to let you know that we've done the architecture walking tour - downloadable version - last Friday and we loved it! it's a beautiful walk, just long enough and gives you a total different perspective on PP! After that walk, we paid a lot more attention to the buildings in PP and that was a true enrichment!" - J. O.