The document discusses the design of a new arts center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia called the Living Arts Incubator. It will be built for Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), an organization that aims to revive Cambodian traditional art forms and inspire contemporary artistic expression. The center aims to celebrate Cambodia's rich artistic heritage and help define a new Cambodian cultural identity that balances tradition and modernity. It will support CLA's mission and help realize their vision of making the arts Cambodia's international signature by 2020.

1. Cultural Palimpsest: Making Past Present for
TATE
a new Cambodian Cultural Identity
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 define a new Cambo-
dian cultural identity.
LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR
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2. PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
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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.
NEW YORK
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-
PHNOM PENH
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 POPULATION AREA
FOR NATURAL VENTILATION AND NATURAL LIGHT. A HORRENDOUS CONTRAST ARE THE NEW MIRRORED
Phnom Penh 2,010,000 13,877 sq mi
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. Albany 298,130 21.4 sq mi
SADLY CAMBODIANS ARE EXPERIENCING A DISCONNECT WITH THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE. PAST ATROCITIES New York City 8,391,881 305 sq mi
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 Cambodia 14,805,358 69,900 sq mi
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 New York State 19,541,453 54,475 sq mi
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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3. URBAN CONTEXT
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4. HISTORY AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
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STAGES OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
images from Phnom Penh Urban Development and Patrimony
1890 1910 1937 1958 1968 1994
1372
Lady Penh finds four
1866
Norodom I moves the
1870s
French colonialists build
1920s
Phnom Penh is known as
1960s
The Golden Age of Phnom
1970s
The population of the
1975
April 17, the city falls to
1979
The Vietnamese, a ltradi-
1980s
A period of reconstruc-
PRESENT
Phnom Penh is a bustling
bronze and one stone capital of Cambodia to the village into a city. the “Pearl of Asia.” Penh. Art, cinema and city expands to absorb the Khmer Rouge. It is tional rival of Cambdians, tion begins. The city city of profitable informal-
Buddha in the Mekong Phnom Penh, making it architecture flourish. refugees from the coun- immediately evacuated drive out the Khmer attracts foreign investors ity and resourcefulness.
River. She erects Wat the permanent seat of trysides affected by the and a very dark period Rouge from the city. and aid. Yet, this generation’s lack
Phnom. government. Vietnam War. By 1975 in Cambodia’s history of knowledge of their
the population reaches 2 begins. roots is a dangerous
million. handicap. Their city and
culture is at threat of
hijacking.
Counter Clockwise from top left:
Royal Palace
Central Market
Chaktomuk Theater
Falling of Phnom Penh
Unfinished highrise development
HOW CAN CAMBODIA RECAPTURE AND
Boeng Kak Lake being filled in BUILD UPON ITS RICH HERITAGE?

5. ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLIC EVENTS
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CAMBODIAN LIVING ARTS
externally rented rehearsal spaces
performance at National Museum
BOPHANA CENTRE
2 film screening areas, seating for 20 each
ground floor exhibition
resource center
FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER
gallery 1, 2500 SF
NATIONAL MUSEUM (CLA) gallery 2, 1300 SF
cinema, seating for 200
library
cafe
bookshop
FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER classrooms
JAVA ARTS
cafe/gallery 2 levels, 1200 SF
BOPHANA CENTRE commercial gallery 300 SF
JAVA ARTS
META HOUSE META HOUSE
exhibition foyer, 40 SF
ground flr gallery, 800 SF
patio film screening, 600 SF
cafe
SOVANNA PHUM SOVANNA PHUM
outdoor theater, 1200 SF seating for 50
1
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JANUARY 2011
S M T W R F S S
10
M T W R F S S M T W
20 R F S S M T W R F S
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main arts organizations
and venues of interest
other arts related
locations
HOW CAN THIS NEW LIVING ARTS CENTER
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COMPLIMENT AND REINFORCE EXISTING CULTURAL ENTITIES?

6. URBAN CATALYST IN AN EMERGING
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CULTURAL DISTRICT 1
FRENCH CULTURAL CENTER
gallery 1, 2500 SF
gallery 2, 1300 SF
cinema, seating for 200
library
cafe
bookshop
The proposed site is located in a bud-
classrooms
ding cultural district that is already
populated by cultural organizations.
The French Cultural Center and Bo-
phana Centre regularly screen films
and host lectures or art exhibition
openings. If these entities including
the Living Arts Incubator perform in
CAMBODIA FILM COMISSION synchronicity, the area can develop
into a cultural district encouraging
BOPHANA CENTRE, AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVE more arts-related urban activity. The
2 film screening areas, seating for 20 each district can be a model for arts-driven
ground floor exhibition uban development, a counterpoint to
database resource center the new breed of culturally and eco-
logically insensitive development pop-
ping up around the city funded by ex-
ternal investors.
CINEMA & CULTURAL DIFFUSION DEPARTMENT
LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR
CAN ARTS BE A DRIVER FOR THE
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY?

7. CLA EXISTING FACILITIES
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STUDIO CLA
office 150 SF
studio 225 SF
recording room 150 SF
REHEARSAL SPACE IN
THE WHITE BUILDING
studio 300 SF
Instrument storage 100 SF
Classes with percussive instruments
Monday through Friday, mornings
CLA MAIN OFFICES
Reception 400 SF
Meeting Room 200 SF
Kitchen 300 SF
Rehearsal Space 675 SF
Admin Offices 2000 SF
Rentable Offices
Storage
Lavatories
THE MISSION
of Cambodian Living Arts is to support the revival SCHOOL ON SOTHEAROS BLVD.
of Cambodian traditional art forms and to inspire large classroom 1800 SF
contemporary artistic epxression. dance rehearsal
Sunday mornings and afternoons
The organization envisons Cambodia in the year 2020 as a
country experiencing a cultural renaissance so dynamic that
PROGRAM
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. HOW CAN THE LIVING ARTS CENTER ACOMMODATE
EXISTING AS WELL AS PROJECT PROGRAM OF CLA?

8. PROGRAM FOR THE LIVING ARTS INCUBATOR
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BLACK BOX
rehearsal and small performance theater
CLA ADMIN
open offices
meeting room
storage
SERVICES
rentable offices
meeting rooms
training facilities
recording studio
PUBLIC
reception
resource center
library
cafe
communication
shop
PROGRAM
HOW CAN THE PROGRAM FACILITATE THE MISSION OF CLA?