Yangon Architecture

As a follow-up to my post on Yangon’s slums, more browsing reveals the existence of an interesting UN Habitat project. It is called Mapping Yangon. The little information that is available about it confirms some of my earlier suspicions about the state of these informal settlements in Burma’s former capital.

Our Yangon Architectural Guide features six thematic chapters on various topics to do with the built environment. Upon reflection and with some time passing since we worked on the manuscript, there could definitely be a few more, in particular one on slums.

Many thanks to Coconuts Yangon for their very generous review! 

Wherever possible, we start off the township chapters with an aerial view. This helps with orientation and puts into better context the various buildings introduced in the following pages. This one, of Kyauktada and Botataung townships, was taken from atop Centrepoint Towers.

Our book is divided geographically into township chapters. It also features an introduction by each one of us (Ben, Manuel, Elliott), six thematic essays and the five favourite buildings of experts and people with a very special connection to Yangon.

"Architectural Guide Yangon" presents around one hundred memorable buildings from Myanmar’s historical capital. Following decades of international isolation, the city’s vast heritage remains largely, surprisingly and spectacularly intact. Rangoon – as it was known under the British – was a melting pot of British India. Vivid traces of this legacy are everywhere, especially in the city’s Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim houses of worship that often stand side by side, down town, in Yangon’s tightly-gridded streets. Since the country’s independence from the British in 1948, successive authoritarian regimes have also stamped the cityscape with their legacies. Today Yangon is a bustling and busy city in flux, at the frontier of Myanmar’s rapid opening to the wider world. Yangon’s urban fabric deserves a systematic guide that nourishes every visitor and resident’s shared fascination for the city and its history, offering countless anecdotes and notes on architectural detail.

@Uncube The Tripitaka Library, Yangon - http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/15888275

American architect Polk, who ran his architectural practice from New Delhi, was asked to incorporate a number of highly symbolic elements and numbers into the design of this library and Buddhist museum. It was built on the occasion of an important gathering of Buddhist dignitaries that took place in Yangon from 1954-1956. Post-independence prime minister U Nu was a deeply spiritual man, and used Buddhism as an expedient tool for nation building. This building is magical. With its bold architectural design, it conveys the bygone optimism of a young nation. The entire Kaba Aye (World Peace) complex, replete with hollow pagoda, is worthwhile checking out. Be sure to take a peek inside the massive man-made cave!

The Soviet Union donated several buildings to the fledgling Burmese nation in the late 1950s, including the Inya Lake Hotel, which closely follows the tried and tested Soviet sanatorium (i.e. rest and relaxation resorts) architectural style, except in two major aspects. A giant steamship funnel decorates the roof and creates a playful maritime association. The entrance canopy, much larger than in the hundreds of sanatoria found from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, is an homage to Burmese climatic realities, since torrential rainfalls inundate the city several months of the year. A cold beverage in the hotel's garden bar, overlooking peaceful Inya Lake, is a much recommended conclusion to a day of exploring Yangon.

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.

A commemoration for an important national poet, this mausoleum is one of the boldest manifestations of modern Burmese architecture. U Kyaw Min used pure and geometric forms; the daring use of deep red and gold in the interior resembles the traditional colour combination of ancient Burmese palaces. The architect stood for parliament as an opposition candidate in the 1990 elections, which were eventually annulled by the military junta. He would spend much of the 1990s in Insein prison, the country's most notorious jail, contracting liver disease, which would plague him until his death.

Returning from the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, General Ne Win was so taken with the Burmese pavilion displayed there that he decreed for a vast replica to be built in Yangon, on Kandawgyi Lake. Today, this swimming restaurant is one of the stranger sights in the city. Its design goes back to the royal barges used by Burmese kings during ceremonial processions in Mandalay, their last capital. The seven-tiered pyatthat roof is typical of traditional architecture. Karaweik Palace is often used for folklore dinners and other cultural shows.