- Born
- Died
- Birth nameVann Molyvann
- Van Molyvann was born on November 23, 1926 in Cambodia. He was married to Trudy. He died on September 28, 2017 in near Angkor, Siem Reap Province.
- SpouseTrudy(? - September 28, 2017) (his death, 6 children)
- In the early 1990s, he returned to Phnom Penh to help secure World Heritage status for the long-neglected Angkor Wat; this was achieved in 1992.
- He was an architect and urban planner who, in the 1960s, transformed Phnom Penh from a colonial backwater into one of the most beautiful south-east Asian cities. He designed the Independence Monument, the National theatre, the Chaktomuk conference hall, and the National Sports Complex. He was inspired by the ancient designs of the Angkor Wat temple complex. His style came to be known as New Khmer architecture; it blends Khmer tradition with modernist principles he had learned during his studies in Paris.
- He was made a commander of the Légion d'Honneur, and awarded a Nikkei Asia prize for culture.
- He was born into a poor family in south-west Cambodia when it was still a French protectorate. He won a scholarship to study law in France, but switched to architecture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked as an architect in Paris for two years. When he returned to Cambodia, which had gained independence in 1953, he was made chief architect by Norodom Sihanouk. After the 1970 military coup led by General Lon Nol, Vann fled to Switzerland. For the next 20 years, he worked as an architect and as a consultant for the UN Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation.
- Modernity should not be inspired superficially by western ideas that destroy all trace of the past. New building should bring tradition and heritage back to life.
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