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<\/p>\nI was in Yangon in November 2019 to present on modern architecture in post-independence Yangon. In what is the first post in ages to grace this neglected blog, you can find details and a link to download the presentation after the jump.<\/p>\n
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The organizers of seam encounters<\/a>\u00a0kindly invited me to speak for the Yangon part of their program to better understand the dissemination of modern architectural ideas to the region.<\/p>\n The research also took place in other cities in the region, including Singapore, Phnom Penh and Jakarta. It was coordinated by SBCA<\/a>, an urban research office from Berlin.<\/p>\n I gave a 20-minute talk on two foreign architects and their work in post-independence Yangon, i.e. Benjamin Polk and Raglan Squire. I have learnt about their biographies and their designs through the work on the Yangon Architectural Guide, widely documented on this blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n The presentation I gave speaks for itself (download it here<\/a>) and I don’t need to summarize it here beyond my personal conclusion that I would love to write a book about these two men (and perhaps adding a third one to it in the architect of the Soviet Inya Lake Hotel).<\/p>\n I think there is relatively little interest in them in Myanmar because they don’t fit easily into the narrative of post-independence nation building. There are arguably also some Burmese architects that entered the fray later who deserve equal attention when it comes to modern architecture and its adaptation in a Myanmar context.<\/p>\n However, weaving these foreign architects’ biographies together would present a unique opportunity to recount this very turbulent episode of Myanmar (architectural) history.<\/p>\n The lecture and trip to Yangon was a welcome reconnection with this city. The Goethe Institute (pictured above) played host to the lectures. I was the first to go and had more than 100 people in the audience. I must say that having taught at TUJ for three years certainly helped with speaking in front of such large a crowd, I was markedly less nervous!<\/p>\n Now that I am based out of nearby Bangkok, I will try and get the second edition of the guide back on the agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was in Yangon in November 2019 to present on modern architecture in post-independence Yangon. In what is the first post in ages to grace this neglected blog, you can find details and a link to download the presentation after … Continue reading