#raglan squire

While this was one of the first major public constructions after Burmese independence, the brief was given to British architect Raglan Squire, who had made a name for himself during the reconstruction of war-damaged London. With this Yangon assignment, a long and fruitful international career kicked off that would see Squire build in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Almost 60 years old, the Engineering College is strikingly modern and even today, it still exudes the spirit of a newly independent nation that placed a heavy emphasis on the education of its young. Take a walk around and take in the beauty of the wall mosaics.

”The Library building I lit from the inside so that all the little coloured glass, coffin-shaped windows sparkled like a Christmas tree. The Assembly Hall was brightly lit inside and we arranged for a gentle flow of lighting outside; the roof looked like the humped back of a giant turtle. The buffet tables each had their own oil lamps, the “pweis” glittered as on the street on my first night [in Rangoon] -- and the whole complex was alive with happy, laughing people. The crowds were so great that we held up the traffic for hours on the main Prome [Pyay] Road out of Rangoon. It was a great day and great evening. I went to bed happy -- yet with a little tinge of sadness. Could anything quite so magnificent ever happen again for me, personally, in the rest of my life? I have had many great days since but, truly, never one quite like that.” (Raglan Squire on the opening of the Rangoon College of Engineering in 1956, from his autobiography)

Today’s University of Medicine (1) was built in the 1950s as the Engineering College of Rangoon University. The architect was the Brit Raglan Squire, who also designed the Technical High School on Nat Mauk Road. Although this campus is a marvel of post-war modernist architecture, Squire’s main accomplishment was the concave assembly hall built entirely from wood. Much loved by the students, it was torn down during Ne Win’s regime in the late 1970s. Squire’s career took off also thanks to his lauded Yangon commissions. His former firm, RSP, has today become one of the most established architectural practices in Singapore.

The Embassy of Singapore is currently inviting tender proposals for the renovation of the Nat Mauk Technical High School, which is again to become a vocational school. The project was designed by British architect Raglan Squire and opened its doors in 1956. Apart from the school's four wings, organised around a central and now-overgrown courtyard, the high school also contained workshops and hostels, located to the north of the school building. Amongst those is one of Yangon's tallest building from this period, pictured with this post.