"New Khmer Architecture and Japan" is the first show in Cambodian History to focus on the architectural drawings of its modern movement. Cambodia is a country with mature architectural culture, not only of the great Angkorian heritage and vernacular timber temples, but also of modern buildings from the 1950s and 60s known as New Khmer Architecture. Since the 1990s, in the context of the post-war redefinition of the national identity as well as the recent expansion of environmental consciousness, this Cambodian modern movement, with their sensibility to the traditional culture and tropical climate, is being re-evaluated; though the drawings and documents of the movement were believed to be destroyed and lost in the turmoil of the Civil War.
Picture of the Chaktomuk Conference Hall taken by Japanese expert Masao Ishihara (ca. 1964). Image Courtesy of Masaaki Iwamoto

"New Khmer Architecture and Japan" is the first show in Cambodian History to focus on the architectural drawings of its modern movement. Cambodia is a country with mature architectural culture, not only of the great Angkorian heritage and vernacular timber temples, but also of modern buildings from the 1950s and 60s known as New Khmer Architecture. Since the 1990s, in the context of the post-war redefinition of the national identity as well as the recent expansion of environmental consciousness, this Cambodian modern movement, with their sensibility to th...