Modernism in Ruins

The Butterfly Villa

Monday was our last day in Kep as we caught the afternoon bus back to Phnom Penh. This morning I woke up early and ate a delicious breakfast at Veranda with Bill and Nancy before jumping on another tuk tuk to explore the French modernist villas that were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. The villas lay scattered about Kep with some along the seashore, others more inland, and even the king's old palace up on the hill is in ruins. My favorite was the "butterfly" villa so named because of its butterfly roof that seems to be derived from much of the vernacular architecture around here. Next door to it was the best-restored villa with its bright yellow hand railing.


A Restored Villa

Exploring the villas was a great way to see the principles of modernism from the fifties, I think. On this trip I was also reading "The International Style" and with the ideas of modernism fresh in my mind, I had the chance to explore these buildings from that era that combined with some of the existing Khmer vernacular forms to create a somewhat regional modernism lost in the ravages of the Cambodian revolution. The ruins of these buildings reminded me of the impermanence of architecture and was strangely evocative of the ruins at Beng Mealea and Angkor that had been swallowed up by the forest. It's really sad to think of all the violence and trauma that happened in the walls of these villas, yet they remain beautiful reminders of Cambodia's architectural richness.


Great View from a Ruin

When the ruin romp was over and we checked out of the hotel, we waited for the bus at the bus stop and learned that it was going to be at least another half hour before the bus came. Bill and I took a quick trip to Knai Bang Chatt, the high end modernist resort in Kep. We spoke to the manager and he explained to us (in French) a bit about the buildings and told us about two of Vann Molyvann's buildings that he did in Kep. Bill didn't know about him, but the manager said that he learned about them when Vann Molyvann stayed with him about 3 months ago (I think). It could be really interesting to take another look into the history of these villas to learn more about their architectural value. It's really difficult because the land and the villas are increasingly getting sold to corrupt officials, destroyed, or encased behind high brick walls. I think the visits to these villas and the principles in "the International Style" really helped me to understand what the modern architecture movement was, something that I didn't get at Yale and that I wouldn't have gotten without this trip to Cambodia.


Another Villa