Lost in Time
Harmonising history with modernity is crucial to preserving Yangon’s stunning architectural past.
Beyond Bazaar
Protecting the buildings of bygone eras is no easy task in rapidly changing Old Dhaka.
Saving Old Dhaka’s landmarks
Preservationists worry that in the rush to modernise Bangladesh’s capital, the city’s architectural legacy is being destroyed.
Taj Mahal-era structures disappear in Bangladesh
Across Old Dhaka, Bangladesh, squatters have taken up residence in the empty shells of Taj Mahal-era Mughal structures. The Urban Study Group is trying to preserve and revitalize some of the 17th-19th century buildings.
Kahn’s masterpiece
One of Dhaka’s most arresting attractions is its magisterially bleak (or bleakly magisterial) national parliament, the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban. Constructed from massive blocks of unfinished reinforced concrete bisected by simple triangles and circles, the building is perhaps the crowning work in the career of American architect Louis Khan. Although commissioned as the national parliament of...
Khmer New Year
Khmer New Year and the stifling heat of mid-April have conspired to cast a smothering blanket over Phnom Penh. Just about everything is shut: even the roadside barbers have folded up their chairs, unhooked their mirrors, and scattered back to the provinces to pursue the cycle of binge-eating, Buddhist offerings and family activities that marks...
Gold Tower 42
Like Saigon, Phnom Penh is booming, and the Cambodian nouveau riche — as nouveaux riches are wont to do — is busily casting about for new ways to flaunt its wealth. To service this new demographic, an old government hospital at the intersection of Sihanouk and Norodom Boulevards has recently been flattened to make way...
Chamkarmon district
Phnom Penh is about two hours from the Vietnamese border, a trip broken only by a ubiquitous half-hour lunch stop and a short break at Neak Loung, where cars, buses, motos and pedestrians are borne across the Mekong on rusting ferries. Due to the abundance of foreign aid the highways here are well-sealed and, excepting...
