Front du Bassac — Master Plan for Bassac Riverfront

Front du Bassac — Master Plan for Bassac Riverfront, 1962 ｰ 68, Phnom Penh


Design: 1960ｰ1961
Construction: 1962ｰ1968
Architect: Vann Molyvann
Collaborators: Gérald Hanning, Vladimir Bodiansky, Robert Hansberger, Gyoji Banshoya, Nobuo Goto, Lu Ban Hap

This is a national project involving the reclamation of about 80 hectares on the shore of the Bassac River and construction of large-scale apartments, exhibition halls, a theater, museum, and other leisure facilities, as well as a school and government offices. It was Molyvann's largest project at the Ministry of Public Works.
From 1962 through 1968, exhibition halls, apartments, the national theater, and a water sports complex were completed on about 24 hectares of the site. (They represented about 1/3 of the master plan.)

Sangkum Reastr Niyum Exhibition Hall (phase 1), 1962, Phnom Penh

Architect: Vann Molyvann
Project architect: Khuon Khun-Neay (in phase 3)

The building has been converted into a bookshop, losing its original form.

Sangkum Reastr Niyum Exhibition Hall (phase 2), 1964, Phnom Penh


Construction: 1962ｰ1967
Architect: Vann Molyvann
Project architect: Khuon Khun-Neay (in phase 3)

Four pavilions were built between 1962 and 1967.
This building is simple box. The alternation of Flemish bond and English bond in the brickwork of the walls is a common feature in Molyvann's projects, and the crenellation of the parapets is one of his favorite details. Openings are protected from direct sunlight by eaves and wing walls.

   

Sangkum Reastr Niyum Exhibition Hall, Phnom Penh

National Theatre, 1967, Phnom Penh

Design: 1958ｰ1962
Construction: 1963ｰ1966
Architect: Vann Molyvann

Collaborator: Obayashi Corporation

Main contractor: Chrun You Hak

The National Theatre was the core cultural component of the Bassac Riverfront development, the home of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. It was raised on pilotis and ended in a sharp edge like the prow of a ship floating on the Bassac River.

The kite-shaped plan was laid out on a triangular grid (influence of Frank Lloyd Wright) with sharp angles. The plan of the hall was a hexagon. Surrounding it was an open-air-foyer with openwork walls.

The basic design was finished by 1958. Structural design and construction documents were prepared with the assistance of the Japanese Obayashi Corporation. A former Obayashi employee who worked on the construction site recalls, "my role was to explain the intent of the Japanese-style drawngs to the Cambodian contractor's staff." And steel part of the roof was made a ironworks in Chiba, Japan and transported to Phnom Penh.

It was severely damaged by a fire in 1994 and demolished in 2008. 

The site of the demolished building.

Grey Building, 1963, Phnom Penh


Construction: 1963
Architect: Vann Molyvann
Structural engineer: Vladimir Blodiansky

Whit five giant apartment buildings, the Bassac Riverfront complex was Cambodia's first large-scale housing development. The building consists of a north wing, 258 m long, and a south wing, 120 m long, funning parallel to the Bassac River. The two wings continuous but separated by a 15 m gap. To prevent the building from becoming a wall that cut the city off from the river, Molyvann set limits on the height of the various parts and broke up the volumes with voids. The whole was raised on pilotis, opening up the ground level for residents and pedestrians. The upper floors are open on the east and west to allow breezes from the river to enter. In the 1990s the building was sold to a developer and converted into an office building. BBU(Build Bright University) is a part of the building.