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LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR

Cultural Palimpsest: Making Past Present for a new Cambodian Cultural Identity

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PROJECT SCOPE:To design a new arts center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a Marion In-stitute program called Cambodian Living Arts (CLA). The organization’s mission is to “support the revival of Cambodian traditional art forms and to inspire contemporary artistic expression.” They envision a future of Cambodia in which its Arts will be the “international signature” of the nation. I am compelled by the story of this organization and I am honored to participate in their mission.

The charge for CLA, also my architectural endeavor, is about a renewed Khmer identity which celebrates the splendor of Cambodia’s artistic heri-tage which has presently been overshadowed by atrocities suffered in the past. The LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR is about architecture as a device for sociological and cultural renewal. The building should be a layered expression of tradition and modernity that starts to defi ne a new Cambo-dian cultural identity.

PHNOM PENH

NEW YORK

Cambodia 14,805,358 69,900 sq mi

New York City 8,391,881 305 sq mi

Albany 298,130 21.4 sq mi

New York State 19,541,453 54,475 sq mi

Phnom Penh 2,010,000 13,877 sq mi

POPULATION AREA

TATEPHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

THRIVING IN AN ORDERED-SOUTHEAST ASIAN-CHAOTIC KIND OF WAY. INFORMAL AND OPPORTUNISTIC TO WESTERN EYES. PAVED AREAS STREETSIDE OF STOREFRONTS BECOME POP-UP NOODLE BARS, MACHIN-ERY SHOPS, MOTORCYCLE WASHES, MOTO/AUTO PARKING, BECOME CELEBRATION GALA HALLS, MARKET PLACE, LOITERING LUNCH RETREAT, BECOME MOTORCYCLE EXPRESS LANES IN HIGH TRAFFIC. ALL AT ONCE, ALL TOGETHER.

SO ARE THE INHABITED SPACES PROTECTED FROM THE STREET. LIVINGROOM-BEDROOM, CORRIDOR-MINI-MART, REHEARSAL SPACE – LIVING SPACE. MACHINES AND ROOMS, MATERIALS AND ENERGY ARE CYCLED, RECYCLED, REUSED, RECONFIGURED AND IRREVERENTLY AMENDED. CHINESE BUDDHIST TEMPLE BECOMES PAVILION SHELTER FOR 15 SQUATTER FAMILIES WHO HAVE PIECED TOGETHER A LIFE AND A LIVELIHOOD.

STREETS ARE THE TRUE PUBLIC SPACES – MICROCOSMS REBUILDING COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES AF-TER THE HORRORS OF THE WAR AND GENOCIDE. AS WELL, THE FEW FORMAL PUBLIC SPACES – ALONG THE RIVERFRONT, THE MALL NEAR THE PALACE, THE STADIUM – BECOME INTENSELY ACTIVATED BEFORE AND AFTER THE WORK DAY BY THRONGS OF PEOPLE. MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN DO AEROBICS TO THE SUNSET OVER-LOOKING A STEPPED PRECIPICE AT THE STADIUM. ADOLESCENTS GATHER ROUND TO VOLLEY A FEATHERED SHUTTLECOCK WITH FANCY BACK-KICKS. OUT OF PLACE AFRICANS, DROPPED IN TO PLAY ON THE CAMBO-DIAN SOCCER TEAM, PRACTICE IN THE RED DIRT OF THE SHADOW OF THE STADIUM. FAMILIES HUDDLE ON SMALL MATS TO CHOW ON STREET MEAT IN THE WAFT OF RIVER BREEZES.

TO ZOOM OUT, THE CITY IS BEING RECONFIGURED AT A LARGER SCALE BY EXTERNAL INVESTORS, USUALLY KOREAN, MAYBE CANADIAN. IGNORING THE INFRASTRUCTURAL STRESSES INHERENT WITH NEW DEVELOP-MENT THEY ARE EVEN FILLING IN THE NATURAL LAKES TO MAKE LAND FOR NEW LUXURY HIGHRISES. THE MANY LAKES, FEW OF WHICH REMAIN, HAVE BEEN DRAINAGE POINTS FOR THE HEAVY RAINS DURING THE WET SEASON. NEW AREAS THAT NEVER USED TO FLOOD ARE NOW DOING SO. HOW WILL THEY DEAL WITH THIS ECOLOGICAL DEMAND?

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE 60’S ARE EMBLEMATIC OF ONE OF PHNOM PENH’S MODERN GOLDEN AGES. PAR-IS-TRAINED ARCHITECT, VANN MOLYVANN, BUILT MORE THAN 100 BUILDINGS BETWEEN THE YEARS 1957 AND 1971. A TROPICAL TWIST ON INTERNATIONAL STYLE, THEY FEATURE ICONIC FORMS, POROUS FACADES FOR NATURAL VENTILATION AND NATURAL LIGHT. A HORRENDOUS CONTRAST ARE THE NEW MIRRORED BLUE-GLASS FACADES AND CHROME HANDRAILED GREEK IMITATIONS POPPING UP IN PARTS OF THE CITY. THEY LACK STYLE, TASTE AND SENSITIVITY TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND ARE IGNORANT OF CAMBODIA’S AR-CHITECTURAL HERITAGE.

SADLY CAMBODIANS ARE EXPERIENCING A DISCONNECT WITH THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE. PAST ATROCITIES HAVE VANDALIZED THEIR SOCIETY AND PSYCHE. THE YOUTH ARE LEFT TO PICK UP THE SCATTERED PIEC-ES. EASILY INFLUENCED AND/OR POORLY EDUCATED, THOSE WITH MONEY ARE BUILDING DISGUSTING AND GARISH HOT PINK MALIBU BEACH BARBIE HOMES. URBAN DEVELOPMENTS ARE INDICATIVE OF CURRENT TRENDS, AND IF CAMBODIANS ARE NOT SOON ENOUGH EDUCATED AND EMPOWERED BY THEIR ROOTS AND DEEPER IDENTITY, THEIR CULTURAL FOUNDATION, THEY WILL SOON BE SWEPT AWAY BEYOND RETREAT – THE RICHES OF THEIR CULTURE HIJACKED AND THEIR SOUTHEAST ASIAN BUDDHIST SWEETNESS DILUTED.

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URBAN CONTEXT

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STAGES OF URBAN DEVELOPMENTimages from Phnom Penh Urban Development and Patrimony

Counter Clockwise from top left:Royal Palace

Central Market

Chaktomuk Theater

Falling of Phnom Penh

Unfi nished highrise development

Boeng Kak Lake being fi lled in

1890 19581910 19681937 1994

1372Lady Penh fi nds four bronze and one stone Buddha in the Mekong River. She erects Wat Phnom.

1866Norodom I moves the capital of Cambodia to Phnom Penh, making it the permanent seat of government.

1975April 17, the city falls to the Khmer Rouge. It is immediately evacuated and a very dark period in Cambodia’s history begins.

1870sFrench colonialists build the village into a city.

1979The Vietnamese, a ltradi-tional rival of Cambdians, drive out the Khmer Rouge from the city.

1920sPhnom Penh is known as the “Pearl of Asia.”

1980sA period of reconstruc-tion begins. The city attracts foreign investors and aid.

PRESENTPhnom Penh is a bustling city of profi table informal-ity and resourcefulness. Yet, this generation’s lack of knowledge of their roots is a dangerous handicap. Their city and culture is at threat of hijacking.

1970sThe population of the city expands to absorb refugees from the coun-trysides affected by the Vietnam War. By 1975 the population reaches 2 million.

1960sThe Golden Age of Phnom Penh. Art, cinema and architecture fl ourish.

HISTORY AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

HOW CAN CAMBODIA RECAPTURE AND BUILD UPON ITS RICH HERITAGE?

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M T FWS RS M MT TF FW WS R RS SM MT FWS SRS SS

FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER

FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER

META HOUSE

main arts organizations and venues of interest

other arts relatedlocations

META HOUSE

BOPHANA CENTRE

BOPHANA CENTRE

SOVANNA PHUMSOVANNA PHUM

CAMBODIAN LIVING ARTS

NATIONAL MUSEUM (CLA)

ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

JAVA ARTS

JAVA ARTS

JANUARY 20111 10 20 31

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gallery 1, 2500 SFgallery 2, 1300 SF

cinema, seating for 200library

cafebookshop

classrooms

exhibition foyer, 40 SFground fl r gallery, 800 SF

patio fi lm screening, 600 SFcafe

outdoor theater, 1200 SF seating for 50

cafe/gallery 2 levels, 1200 SFcommercial gallery 300 SF

2 fi lm screening areas, seating for 20 eachground fl oor exhibition

resource center

externally rented rehearsal spacesperformance at National Museum

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URBAN CATALYST IN AN EMERGING CULTURAL DISTRICT

CAN ARTS BE A DRIVER FOR THE URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY?

The proposed site is located The proposed site is located in a bud-ding cultural district that is already that is already populated by cultural organizations.populated by cultural organizations. The French Cultural Center and Bo-The French Cultural Center and Bo-phana Centre regularly screen fi lms phana Centre regularly screen fi lms and host lectures or art exhibition and host lectures or art exhibition openings. If these entities including openings. If these entities including the Living Arts Incubator perform in the Living Arts Incubator perform in synchronicity, the area can develop synchronicity, the area can develop into a cultural district encouraging into a cultural district encouraging more arts-related urban activity. more arts-related urban activity. The district can be a model for arts-driven uban development, a counterpoint to the new breed of culturally and eco-logically insensitive development pop-ping up around the city funded by ex-ternal investors.

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CAMBODIA FILM COMISSION

BOPHANA CENTRE, AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVE

FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER

CINEMA & CULTURAL DIFFUSION DEPARTMENT

LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR

gallery 1, 2500 SFgallery 2, 1300 SFcinema, seating for 200librarycafebookshopclassrooms

2 fi lm screening areas, seating for 20 eachground fl oor exhibitiondatabase resource center

The organization envisons Cambodia in the year 2020 as a country experiencing a cultural renaissance so dynamic that the arts have become Cambodia’s international signature. The LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR will support CLA along phases of development through to the realization of its vision.

THE MISSION of Cambodian Living Arts is to support the revival of Cambodian traditional art forms and to inspire contemporary artistic epxression.

TATECLA EXISTING FACILITIES

REHEARSAL SPACE IN THE WHITE BUILDINGstudio 300 SF Instrument storage 100 SFClasses with percussive instrumentsMonday through Friday, mornings

STUDIO CLAoffi ce 150 SFstudio 225 SFrecording room 150 SF

SCHOOL ON SOTHEAROS BLVD.large classroom 1800 SFdance rehearsalSunday mornings and afternoons

CLA MAIN OFFICESReception 400 SFMeeting Room 200 SFKitchen 300 SFRehearsal Space 675 SFAdmin Offi ces 2000 SFRentable Offi ces Storage Lavatories

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HOW CAN THE LIVING ARTS CENTER ACOMMODATE EXISTING AS WELL AS PROJECT PROGRAM OF CLA?

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PUBLICreceptionresource centerlibrarycafecommunicationshop

SERVICESrentable offi cesmeeting roomstraining facilitiesrecording studio

CLA ADMINopen offi cesmeeting roomstorage

BLACK BOXrehearsal and small performance theater

PROGRAM FOR THE LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR

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HOW CAN THE PROGRAM FACILITATE THE MISSION OF CLA?