White Building (Phnom Penh)

Last updated
The White Building in 2014 White Building (Phnom Penh) 3.jpg
The White Building in 2014

The White Building, originally known as the Municipal Apartments, was a large and prominent apartment building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, one of the buildings in the Bassac development. The White Building was on Samdach Sothearos Boulevard near the Bassac River, a large urban extension project built on reclaimed land in the early 1960s. After being abandoned during the Khmer Rouge era, it became a squat. After many years of neglect, it was declared unsafe by authorities, its residents evicted and it was demolished in 2017.

Contents

History

The UN consultants Gérald Hanning and Vladimir Bodiansky introduced the concept of the building, a 450-metre (1,480 ft) architectural composition, directly inspired by previous AT.BAT designs built in Morocco. Lu Ban Hap, then Chief Architect of the Municipality of Phnom Penh, was responsible for the site supervision. The White Building was designed to house moderate-income tenants, and was adopted by many artists who found the innovative design appealing. With the nearby Grey Building, designed by Vann Molyvann, it was initially built for athletes in the 1964 GANEFO (Games of the non-aligned forces) international sports event. After years of neglect and deterioration since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the White Building was demolished in 2017.

The building was composed of six blocks of concrete construction, three or four stories tall, connected by open bridge structures, along a double-loaded spine. [1] It included stores and doctors' offices as well as 468 apartments. [2]

Tenants fled during the Cambodian genocide in the 1970s. After the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 the White Building was reoccupied by former tenants and squatters. It gradually declined and became known for poverty, drug use and prostitution. Its population in 2015 was about 2500. [3] [4]

According to municipal authorities, the building was structurally deteriorating and unsafe. Tenants used the high-ceilinged rooms to add lofts, and balconies were enclosed, obscuring the once-white building's design and also adding weight to the structure. Cracking appeared in 2015 after construction on an adjoining lot. [5] Several proposals have been made to tear it down for redevelopment. Eviction orders were issued in July 2015. However, the building's status as an iconic New Khmer building stimulated preservation efforts. [6]

Demolition

In July 2017, the almost 500 families still living in the White Building were moving out; the building was to be replaced by a 21-storey mixed-use development. [2] In 2018 it was revealed that the site was not to be a Japanese-backed mixed-use residential and retail tower as cited prior to the demolition of the building, [7] but instead a $3.5bn casino was intended for the site by owners NagaCorp, their third casino in Phnom Penh. [8] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phnom Penh</span> Capital and largest city of Cambodia - economic hub for Cambodia

Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, industrial, and cultural centre. Before Phnom Penh became capital city, Oudong was the capital of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norodom Ranariddh</span> Cambodian prince and politician (1944–2021)

Norodom Ranariddh was a Cambodian prince, politician and law academic. He was the second son of King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni. Ranariddh was the president of FUNCINPEC, a Cambodian royalist party. He was also the first Prime Minister of Cambodia following the restoration of the monarchy, serving between 1993 and 1997, and subsequently as the President of the National Assembly between 1998 and 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Palace of Cambodia</span> Official residence of the King of Cambodia since 1860s

The Royal Palace of Cambodia is a complex of buildings which serves as the official royal residence of the King of Cambodia. Its full name in Khmer is the Preah Barom Reacheaveang Chaktomuk Serey Mongkol. The Cambodian monarchs have occupied it since it was built in the 1860s, with a period of absence when the country came into turmoil during and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum of Cambodia</span> Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The National Museum of Cambodia is Cambodia's largest museum of cultural history and is the country's leading historical and archaeological museum. It is located in Chey Chumneas, Phnom Penh.

<i>The Phnom Penh Post</i> English-language daily newspaper in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, established 1992

The Phnom Penh Post is a daily English-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Founded in 1992 by publisher Michael Hayes and Kathleen O'Keefe, it is Cambodia's oldest English-language newspaper and prior to the transferring of ownership, was considered to be one of Cambodia's newspaper of record. The paper was initially published fortnightly as a full-color tabloid; in 2008 it increased frequency to daily publication and redesigned the format as a Berliner. The Phnom Penh Post is also available in Khmer. It previously published a weekend magazine, 7Days, in its Friday edition. Since July 2014, it has published a weekly edition on Saturdays called Post Weekend, which was folded into the paper as a Friday supplement in 2017 and was discontinued in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phnom Penh Crown FC</span> Cambodian association football club

Phnom Penh Crown Football Club Abbreviated as (PPCFC) is a professional football club based in Sangkat Toul Sangke II, Khan Russey Keo, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which competes in the Cambodian Premier League. Which is the top league of Cambodian football. (PPCFC) Nicknamed the "Red Singha", the club was first formed as Smart United F.C. in 2001. Phnom Penh Crown is one of the most successful and prominent professional clubs in Cambodia, they have won the Cambodian top League eight times, including MCL 7 times and CPL 1 time. Not only did they succeed in winning the league title, Phnom Penh Crown also continued to win the Cup, winning the Hun Sen Cup (HSC) twice, the Cambodian League Cup (CLC) twice and the Cambodian Super Cup (CSC) season opener twice. Phnom Penh Crown is also the only Cambodian club to reach the group stage and semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), That AFC Cup, too.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khemarak Phoumin</span> City in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia

Khemarak Phoumin, also Koh Kong, is the capital and largest city of Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. It is near the mouth of the Kah Bpow river in Smach Mean Chey District on the Gulf of Thailand. The city lies only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Thai border. It is 138 kilometres (86 mi) by Highway 48 to National Highway 4 at Sre Ambel and a further 133 kilometres (83 mi) to Phnom Penh. After completion of the bridges on Highway 48 in 2010 the land link to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville has significantly improved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vann Molyvann</span> Cambodian architect

Vann Molyvann was a Cambodian architect and urban planner. During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime (1955–1970), Prince Norodom Sihanouk enacted a development policy encompassing the whole kingdom with the construction of new towns, infrastructure and architecture. Vann was the foremost of a generation of architects who contributed to the unique style of architecture that emerged during this era and that has been coined New Khmer Architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norodom Boulevard</span> Boulevard in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Norodom Boulevard, also called Street 41, is a major boulevard in Cambodia and one of Phnom Penh's oldest arterial roads. It was named after King Norodom. It connects with Monivong Bridge in the south-east of the city at the Bassac River and joins with the north of the city at Wat Phnom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambodia–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Bilateral relations between the United States and Cambodia, while strained throughout the Cold War, have strengthened considerably in modern times. The U.S. supports efforts in Cambodia to combat terrorism, build democratic institutions, promote human rights, foster economic development, eliminate corruption.

New Khmer Architecture was an architectural movement in Cambodia during the 1950s and 1960s. The style blended elements of the Modern Movement with two distinctly Cambodian traditions: the great tradition of Angkor, and the vernacular architecture tradition of domestic buildings. The term was coined by authors Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins. The Kingdom of Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. Winning the elections in 1955, Prince Norodom Sihanouk founded the Sangkum Reastr Niyum, a political experiment in economic development that specifically developed this art and architectural style. It reached its apotheosis in the 1960s and ended abruptly in 1970 with the overthrow of Norodom Sihanouk by General Lon Nol.

The Chaktomuk Conference Hall is a theatre located in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The fan-shaped hall is one of the most iconic works of famous Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann and was since its construction in 1961 one of the "landmarks and infrastructures of the newly independent nation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vattanac Capital</span> 39-storey building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Vattanac Capital is a 187.3-metre (615 ft), 39-storey building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is owned by Vattanac Properties Limited, an affiliate of the Vattanac Bank. Construction started in 2009 and the building topped out in May 2012. The majority of the building opened in 2014, while the hotel opened in 2018. The tower is the second skyscraper in Cambodia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fall of Phnom Penh</span> 1975 Khmer Rouge capture of the Cambodian capital

The fall of Phnom Penh was the capture of Phnom Penh, capital of the Khmer Republic, by the Khmer Rouge on 17 April 1975, effectively ending the Cambodian Civil War. At the beginning of April 1975, Phnom Penh, one of the last remaining strongholds of the Khmer Republic, was surrounded by the Khmer Rouge and totally dependent on aerial resupply through Pochentong Airport.

Vandy Rattana is a photographer and artist, now resident in Taiwan, whose work is concerned with Cambodian society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khan Chbar Ampov</span> District in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Chbar Ampov is a district (khan) in central Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NagaCorp</span> Cambodian gaming and hospitality company

NagaCorp Ltd. is a Hong Kong-listed hotel, gaming and leisure company. Its Cambodian property, NagaWorld, is the country's largest hotel and gaming resort, and is Phnom Penh's only integrated hotel-casino entertainment complex. NagaCorp holds a 70-year casino licence in Cambodia which runs until 2065, and has a monopoly within a 200-kilometre (120 mi) radius of Phnom Penh until 2045.

Tonlé Bassac is a commune (sangkat) of Chamkar Mon District in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Lying beside the Bassac River, the area has become a hub of development projects in the last two years, drawing comparisons with Marina Bay, Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squatting in Cambodia</span> Property squatting in the country of Cambodia

Squatting is common in the country of Cambodia. Following the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime, the new democratic government introduced land reform. In the capital Phnom Penh, where in 2003 an estimated 25 per cent of the population was squatting, there are informal settlements and occupied buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Mount Bokor</span> Old Catholic church in Cambodia

The Church of Mount Bokor also known as the Old Catholic Church of Bokor Mountain is second-oldest standing Roman Catholic church in the Kingdom of Cambodia atop the Bokor Hill station. Built in the 1920s, it is one of the few churches in Cambodia to have survived the systematic destruction of churches and pagodas under the terror of the Khmer Rouge. Currently in ruins, a restoration project is under development.

References

  1. ↑ MacDonald, Kern; Zarattini, Carlotta (June 29, 2011). "Inside a Cambodian Building, a Feeling". New York Times (photo essay). Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The last days of Phnom Penh's iconic White Building". BBC News. July 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ Hale, Erin (December 4, 2015). "The Lost Future of Cambodia: Inside Phnom Penh's White Building". Salon . Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Wills, Kate (August 28, 2015). "Phnom Penh's White Building is dilapidated, riven with crime ... and facing demolition". The Independent . Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  5. ↑ Sonyka, Va; Cox, Jonathan (July 21, 2015). "White Building Residents Receive Another Safety Warning". Khmer Times. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
  6. ↑ Reaksmey, Hul; Chamnan, Pang (July 20, 2015). "Authorities Issue Eviction Order of Historic 'White Building'". Voice of America. VOA Khmer.
  7. ↑ Sotheary, Pech (31 May 2017). "White Building families given deadline to leave". Khmer Times. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Safe bet: Cambodia's NagaCorp plans $3.5bn mega casino in Phnom Penh". Global Construction Review. 18 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Sarath, Sorn; Pisei, Hin (April 8, 2019). "NagaCorp Ltd unveils Naga 3". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 29 May 2024.

11°33′09.25″N104°55′58.19″E / 11.5525694°N 104.9328306°E / 11.5525694; 104.9328306

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.