I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis advisor, Prof. Erik L’Heureux for his dedication and guidance throughout my research journey. His advice has proven invaluable in opening up new perspectives and inspiring me as I dive deeper into my research. Thanks should also go to my second reader, Prof. Lilian Chee, for agreeing to assist me on this endeavour, as well as sharing her knowledge and expertise.
I am also grateful to my fellow thesis mates for the stimulating conversations, moral support and late nights throughout this entire journey beginning from our Ho Chi Minh City studio. Additionally, this endeavour would not have been possible without the individuals who surround me with laughter and consistent encouragement amidst all the ups and downs in this thesis research. I would also like to extend special thanks to the new friends I made in Phnom Penh, who have made my trip an enjoyable one.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention my family and my dog for their love and unwavering belief in me during this process.
A Hot Hot City
Semester 1 AY 2023/2024
Foreword
During my summer AIP internship, the dreaded event of an air-condition break down transformed the office from a cool, comfortable haven to a stifling, superheated room of bodies sweating at their desks. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me as this resulted in my thesis journey), this entire saga happened in the beginning of summer, right during the first week of June. I recall thinking about how impossible it was to concentrate and work in such steamy conditions. Ironically during this hot week, the semi-outdoor pantry terrace became a retreat for anyone who wished to sneak a cool break. It was this surreal experience that jolted me out of my bubble of cool comfort (literally and psychologically) and forced me to realise how our bodies (and minds) have come to rely on cool comfort. Looking around Singapore, any non-domestic space that had no outdoor requirement was immediately enclosed in a sterile controlled container. We have become a society that actively search for cool bubbles, so much so that travelling happens in such bubbles. This increasing pressure of interiority made me question the future of hot cities – if this was truly what a hot city looks like, can they still be authenticated as hot cities?
In this thesis, Phnom Penh serves as the petri dish of a thermally hot city that has a promising future. It is interesting as the city has yet to cement its path to interiorisation. Moreover, it is an extremely diverse city that has a hot historical, political and cultural scene which would be interesting to uncover.
Student
Name: Chng Yoke Minn, Ashley
Student ID: A0203914M
Advisor, interviewees, lecturers and consultants
Prof. Erik L’Heureux (Thesis Advisor)
Prof. Lilian Chee (Second Reader)
Research
Research Abstract (300 words)
Research by Travel
Research Tools
Research Itinerary
Travel Observations Hot Politics
Stifling vs Warmth Cambodian Context
Cool Modernisation & Thermal Privilege in Phnom Penh
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Research Abstract
Shrouded in Phnom Penh, this architecture thesis envisions an architecture driven by heat. The discourse on environmental heat is often shrouded in technocratic ethos, discretely shaping the urban landscapes in developing nations such as Cambodia. Architecture is largely valued based on a performance model and the tropical climate is regarded as an issue to be solved. Such reductive perspectives disregard the rich historiography and social realms of heat, merely conforming to the regimes of colonialism, developmentalism, race, and class which have governed our understanding of heat for centuries. These regimes continue to distort our thermal perspectives on heat, trapping architecture in a cycle of thermal modernity - sterile, controlled refrigerators.
Yet, there remains a paradox of such architectural refrigerators in which cooling creates heat and the detrimental cycle of thermal modernity continues. The Cambodia National Cooling Action Plan reveals the country’s infatuation with thermal modernity and its capitalisation on the developmentalist narrative to achieve the socially accepted cool, temperate environment. The mechanisations of developmentalism and urbanisation have led to contestations on rights to the city and exclusions in urban public spaces. As such, identifying environmental heat as a socio-politically embedded, historically contingent process that extends beyond the brief moments of heat waves is perhaps the first step towards (re)mediating its relationship with bodies and urban spaces in Cambodia. This raises questions on how
environmental heat can be orchestrated as a medium in which all participated in, without exacerbating it – a social contract to heat.
Hence, this low, porous architecture that premises thermal rhythmic space questions our inherent beliefs and perceptions of heat as an issue. Challenging the norm of designing out environmental heat, the architecture proposal will explore the use of heat as an equaliser in a truly hot city. As a ubiquitous experiential reality in Phnom Penh, heat is the engine for a new architecture that contests the status-quo urban development in the city.
Keywords: Heat, Privilege, Hot city, Equaliser,Thermal rhythms
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Heat, like gravity, penetrates every substance of the universe, its rays occupy all parts of space.
Joseph Fourier, 1882
Research by Travel
The Friday that marked the very beginning of recess week, I was on a plane bound for a week long trip in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This trip allowed me to personally experience the culture and architectural scene in the growing city. Specifically, I wanted to get a complete and intimate understanding of the hot monsoon climate that Cambodians contends with in their everyday life. During this trip, I hoped to discover how the attitude and relationship Cambodians had with their climate as well. With the government’s eagerness to improve Cambodia’s international standing, much of the country is hidden behind a veneer of democratic legitimacy. Hence, I embarked on this trip with hope, trepidation, and an ambitious goal to uncover the underbelly of Phnom Penh. Through simply being present in the city, photography documentation, and casual conversations with locals, I was able to gain a sense of the unique developmental trajectory of the city.
The body is often discounted as a research tool due to ambiguity. Yet, it is precisely this fundamental exchange between the world and the body that we are able to draw sense from the intelligible world by perceiving it. Heat is
made present through the means of the body, essentially an interiorising of the external.1 As such, my perception of ‘heat’ in Phnom Penh was not just built on research and travel observations, but also accounted for bodily experiences.
Growing up in Singapore, I assumed my experience of heat in Phnom Penh would be similar. Except, what I had taken for granted was the ‘shaded’ heat I experienced back home due to abundant trees and sheltered sidewalks.
The wide roads and poorly maintained pavements In Phnom Penh forced pedestrians to walk in the midst of hot exhaust fumes by the roadside. Conversely, well maintained sidewalks were extremely wide and devoid of shade trees. This made Phnom Penh ‘feel’ hotter even though measured temperatures were similar to Singapore. As a body accustomed to ‘shaded’ heat, Phnom Penh’s heat felt more glaring, a relentless heat that was constantly at the back of my mind during the trip. Such bodily experiences and insights would not have been possible without travelling to Phnom Penh.
1 Eva Mahdalickova, “Implications Philosophiques,” New experiences of the body through space, 2009, http://www.implications-philosophiques.org/Habitat/MAHDALICKOVA1.html.
Pavements not meant for walking in Phnom Penh (Author, 2023)
Collage of travel tools (Author, 2023)
Friday
22.09.23
Saturday 23.09.23
Sunday 24.09.23
Monday 25.09.23
Tuesday 26.09.23
Wednesday 27.09.23
Thursday 28.09.23
1625 Flight from SIN to PNH (Flight SQ158)
1730 Arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport
2000 Check in at The Bridge
2100 Dinner at D’lini
0800 Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP)
0930 Breakfast at Nisset Cafe
1030 Olympic Market
1130 National Olympic Stadium
1200 Chaktomuk Conference Hall
1300 Aeon Mall Phnom Penh
1400 Lunch at Bassac Pho
1530 Temple Coffee St51
1800 Dinner and sharing with Ar. Kong Sopheara at Autumn
0800 Koh Pich
1000 Breakfast at Tube Coffee Koh Pich
1100 Phnom Penh Municipality
1130 Raffles Hotel Le Royal
1200 Cambodia Post
1230 Vattanac Capital
1300 Cambodia Railway Station
1430 Lunch at Backyard Cafe
1530 Central Market
1930 Dinner at La Croisette
2130 Preah Sisowath Quay
1000 Sharing with Virak Roeun at Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA)
1300 Lunch at Brown Coffee - Roastery BKK 1530 Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
1930 Dinner at Elia Greek Kitchen Bassac Lane
1100 Architectural firm visit at Aerne Architects & Associates with Ar. Martin Aerne 1430 Lunch at Marugame Udon 313 Quayside
1300 Lunch at Soga Cafe, Bistrot & School 1430 Russian Market
1630 National Olympic Stadium
1800 Olympic Market
1900 Dinner at Pizza 4P’s BKK1
2030 NagaWorld Integrated Resort
1300 Lunch at Ngon Restaurant
1825 Flight from PNH to SIN (Flight SQ157)
Map of places visited in Phnom Penh (Author, 2023)
The legacy of Cambodia is rife with conflict, which has left an implicit impression on its urban landscape. From the spacious French colonial compounds to the towering glass skyscrapers that dot the city, Phnom Penh’s layered architectural landscape mirrors the power transfer throughout its history. After gaining independence from the French, the kingdom experienced a brief moment of peace and prosperity. Once known as the ‘Pearl of Asia’1, this period of post-colonial bliss was marked by careful urban planning, the creation of social spaces, and the New Khmer Architecture movement. Unfortunately, the blossoming cultural and architectural scene was halted by the Khmer Rouge which saw the city’s development come to a complete standstill as people were forced to evacuate and return to an agrarian lifestyle.2 This placed Phnom Penh in a time warp and the city only began to recover in recent decades with the construction boom. The rich history and
1 Guy De Launey, “Phnom Penh’s Fast-Fading Architectural Treasures,” BBC Travel, February 24, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/ travel/article/20110616-phnom-penhs-fast-fading-architectural-treasures.
2 Pierre Fallavier, rep., Urban Slums Report: The Case of Phnom Penh, Cambodia (UN Habitat, 2003).
architectural layers of Phnom Penh was a guide to my itinerary structure and allowed me to explore the evolving relationship between architecture and heat. Porosity was a common language to passively address the hot climate in both French colonial and New Khmer architecture. While French colonial architecture highlighted the big roof, New Khmer architecture interwove the element of water into its designs. Undoubtedly, these motifs are absent in the new developmentalist models of glass refrigerators looming over the city.
Central Market (Author, 2023)
National Olympic Stadium (Author, 2023)
New developmentalist skyscrapers (Author, 2023)
One would think these new developments cropping up in Phnom Penh would serve as an attractive investment opportunity for both foreigners and locals who are looking for a convenient place to settle down. Yet, roaming around the city has made it clear that these shiny, fresh establishments are mere facades and empty shells. The satellite city of Koh Pich, dubbed as Diamond Island, is the epitome of a ghost island situated at the mouth of the Bassac River. Apartments remain unoccupied and the streets were devoid of the usual bustle of cars and tuktuks. From an outsider’s point of view, such riverfront properties appear incredibly valuable, and their idleness baffled me. This was point I brought up during my conversation with a Cambodian architect. He explained that such properties were too expensive for the average Cambodian to own and coupled with the lack of rent culture in Cambodia, most new developments remain largely unoccupied. Interestingly for Cambodians, desire for ownership and generational homes greatly outweighed the pull of material comforts that these new developments boasted. Even relatively modest apartments such as The Bridge, remained half empty. In fact, while staying at The
Bridge, I noticed a large majority of the residents were Chinese expatriates.
High rise apartments were not the only new developments that remained half empty. New commercial developments such as Vattanac Capital lack the buzz of human activity that is a common sight in shopping malls around the world. Although it was a weekend when I visited Vattanac Capital, the vast air-conditioned atriums echoed its silence. Clearly, these new commercial developments are hardly the embodiment of a public space to Cambodians. Indeed, my trip to Phnom Penh has made it evident that the fact that these new developments are ‘only for excellencies’1 appear to be true. Although the new commercial developments remain ‘open’ to Cambodians, the fact remains that many feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in these public spaces even as they continue to materialise across the city’s skyline.
1 Poppy McPherson, “Inside Phnom Penh’s Empty New Skyscraper: ‘This Is Only for Excellencies,’” The Guardian, July 17, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/17/ phnom-penh-empty-skyscraper-vattanac-capital.
Emptiness of Ko Pich Island (Author, 2023)
Emptiness of Vattanac Capital (Author, 2023) and
Cambodians have an amicable attitude with its climate, making light of the unpredictable situations through the culture of rain betting. After personally getting caught in the many sudden showers throughout my trip, I have to commend the ingenuity of this tradition. Although all modes of gambling have been illegal in Cambodia, the tradition of rain betting persists even with efforts by authorities to uproot it.1 I managed to chance upon this rain market, also known as ‘chak teuk philang’2, hidden behind the National Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately, I did not manage to take pictures as this was an illegal activity and I did not want to get them in trouble. It was in the late afternoon, which was the last, out of 3, sessions for the day. It is an informal betting system based on the chances of rainfall and mirrors how the stock market operates. The people I observed alternated between glancing towards the sky and their phones or walkie talkies. I realised they were the brokers who would advise a client network scattered across Phnom Penh. This cultural tradition was a pastime
1 Lola García-Ajofrín, “The Curious Rain Buying and Selling Market of Cambodia,” El País, January 7, 2018, https://elpais.com/ elpais/2017/12/26/planeta_futuro/1514290797_584463.html.
2 Ibid.
that Cambodians clearly enjoyed regardless of gender, age or class and have built a sophisticated system for. These chance discoveries enriched my trip and allowed me to discover the values and cultures that are not immediately apparent in my research on Cambodia.
My weeklong travel provided valuable insight, supplementing my academic research. The trip helped me delve deeper into the social and cultural context of the city. This thesis captures the nuances gained from my travels in order to situate it well in the context of Phnom Penh.
He who cannot put his thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of dispute.
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878
Hot Politics
Hot Politics
The ubiquity of heat in South East Asia renders it an often overlooked phenomenon. In a rapidly warming world, such ignorance towards heat could prove dangerous to the future city. This is especially for cities such as Phnom Penh which are just beginning to follow the trajectory of a typical capitalist city and pandering to the construction boom of mega high-rise refrigerators.1 Still, the unique position of Phnom Penh in the early stages of modernisation leaves room for deviation from its developmentalist outlook. This thesis research will dive into the politics of heat, before situating heat in the rapidly growing city of Phnom Penh.
Heat is often regarded as an issue to be designed out in architecture due to regimes established by thermal comfort standards such as ASHRAE’s Standard 55 and thermal performance building codes.2 The narratives of heat are hence saturated in techno-determinist discourses that look to the warming future as a matter of technological adjustment instead of a socio-cultural perspective.3 Such reductive perspectives stemmed from the long legacy of air-conditioning and allowed architects to continue designing without consideration for climate context, perpetuating the fixation on sleek modernist aesthetics.
4 Consequently, a vicious cycle of heat is generated as modern buildings unsuited to the climate context is dependent on heat-producing technologies to cool and
1 Nary Lim, “Phnom Penh Attracts 1,000 Construction Projects Worth over $2.26 Billion - Khmer Times,” Khmer Times - Insight into Cambodia, June 10, 2022, https://www.khmertimeskh. com/501090915/phnom-penh-attracts-1000-construction-projectsworth-over-2-26-billion/.
2 Michelle Murphy, “Man in a Box: Building-Machines and the Science of Comfort,” essay, in Sick Building Syndrome and the Problem of Uncertainty Environmental Politics, Technoscience and Women Workers (North Carolina, Durham: Duke University Press, 2006), 10–34.
4 Jiat-Hwee Chang and Tim Winter, “Thermal Modernity and Architecture,” The Journal of Architecture 20, no. 1 (2015): 92–121, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2015.1010095.
ventilate the internal spaces. Undoubtedly, such cooling technologies are mere band aid solutions to contend with heat. As such, it would be worth considering heat from a socio-cultural viewpoint which opens up a more nuanced discourse on heat.
Stifling vs Warmth
How
How heat gained its notoriety as something to be rid of, should first be understood before positive perspectives of heat can be entertained. Thermal politics is deeply rooted in colonial legacy. This has structured our view of heat in the tropics as detrimental to one’s health, moral composure and productivity. These temperature constructs have engendered the view that heat has no social positive and steered architectural education towards the replacement of the hot tropical landscape with a tempered environment.1 Much of these temperature constructs have been perpetuated by colonial literature, practices of thermal privilege and violence. Among the masses of modern climate determinists, the geographer Ellsworth Huntington, is a prominent accomplice to the large body of knowledge on colonial theories of heat. Huntington was an exponent of the belief that superior civilisations can only be established and flourish in the ‘temperate climate’, concluding that heat reduced mental and physical energy.2 This deterministic relationship between
1 Erik L’Heureux, “Hot Air: Monoliths, Deep Veils, and the Urban Equator” (dissertation, RMIT research repository, 2022).
2 Ellsworth Huntington, Mainsprings of Civilization (New York: Wiley u.a., 1945).
climate and culture legitimised the use of artificial cooling to overcome the native ‘sloth’ in a modernising world. Looking at the high-rise glass refrigerators that populate the ‘modern, advanced’ cities today, it is evident that we have not been freed from the colonial mindset on heat.
-continued-
Mainsprings of civilisation based on climate (Huntington, 1945)
The negative attitude towards heat is compounded by the history of instrumentalising heat as a tool for discipline. The weaponisation of the climate manifested in the architecture of the sweatbox which was used in plantations and prisons as a form of punishment in the American South.1 For this reason, the sweatbox is regarded as a racialised technology of thermal violence, which is defined by Starosielski as a ‘manipulation of a body’s capacity to mediate heat’, reproducing and accentuating differences of one’s ‘social position’. She highlights that thermal violence is neither ‘by a particular technology nor by exposure to extreme temperatures’, instead it alters the body’s mediating capacities by ‘making it transmissive or forcing it to store excess heat’.2 The practices that originated from the notion of the sweatbox - the limitation of one’s position, movement and food provision, gave the sweatbox power to transcend its status as a simple wooden box of thermal exposure. Framing the sweatbox as a cultural technique of thermal violence,
1 Nicole Starosielski, “Sweatbox: The Thermal Violence of Weaponised Heat,” Media Hot and Cold, 2021, 109–32, https://doi. org/10.2307/j.ctv201xjbb.8.
2 Ibid.
one starts to recognise its embeddedness in society and its continual manifestation as thermal privilege. In today’s capitalist society, socio-economic class defines thermal privilege. For instance, the blue collar - white collar paradigm, economic structure, class values, and workplace psychological constructs mirror the sweatbox’s cultural techniques of thermal violence. Blue collar workers are expected to work through the afternoon heat and in some cases with a weakened body, due to the socio-economic structure of our society which aggrandises mental labour. Coupled with urban heat island effect, the modern city of today then becomes a figurative sweatbox that exacerbates class differences and thermal privilege.
-continued-
Sweatbox (Florida Department of Corrections, 2018)
In spite of the multitude of literature condemning heat, there have been alternative perspectives of heat which should be considered. Among them is Lisa Heschong’s ‘Thermal Delight in Architecture’, which advocates for thermal stimulation and places the notion of heat in a positive light.1 She draws connections between (hot) architectural elements and the human psychology of sensations, as well as perceptions of warmth. Although her writing does not restrictively refer to heat, Heschong highlights examples of certain cultures and architecture which embraces the medium of heat.2 This suggests a radical rethinking where architecture surrenders to heat. Uncovering a new dimension of architectural experience where heat penetrates, radiates, and transforms the human being – culture, mentality, work efficiency. 3Nevertheless, in the eagerness to embrace heat it should not be forgotten that the social positives of heat are highly context dependent. As demonstrated by sweatbox
1 Lisa Heschong, Thermal Delight in Architecture (Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 2002).
2 Ibid.
3 Ava Horn, “The Aesthetics of Heat for a Cultural History of Climate in the Age of Global Warming,” Metaphora 2 (2014): 1–16.
architecture, contexts that limit the bodies’ meditation of heat leads to overexposure and poses a physiological danger. Hence, the welcoming of heat should not be mistaken for a complete surrendering to it, as it can only be considered a ‘delight’ in so far as it remains harmless.
This thesis posits itself at the intersection of both views, simply accepting heat as an inevitable condition of architecture. Without completely surrendering to heat, it envisions a hot city where heat is an equalising medium which all participates in. Challenging the current socioeconomic structures of a modern city, the penetrating force of heat can be designed to dissolve boundaries and clear-cut lines.
Thermal diversity (Strelcheva, 2015) of
Cambodian Context
As of the latest Cambodia Socio-economic Survey done in 2021, Cambodia’s population is estimated to be 16.6 million with 39% of the population living in urban areas such as Phnom Penh.1 This percentage increase yearly and the domestic rural-urban migration in 2021 was high at 64%. Most of the Cambodians migrating to urban areas are made up of young 20–34 year olds looking for better opportunities.2 Visiting Phnom Penh, the dusty roads and multiple construction sites clearly reflect the rapid rate of urbanisation.
Having a tropical monsoon climate, Cambodia is hot all year round with dry and wet seasons. On the hot dry days, the heat is almost a tangible blanket weighing on the city and settling on the skin the moment one steps out. During the monsoon season from May to October, temperatures are generally cooler, and Cambodians are provided mild relief from the scorching heat. The days with spontaneous monsoon rains were always muggy – initially cool before aftermath of tropical heat hits in full blow force, causing one to perspire more profusely than during hot dry days. Temperatures have been rising and the city has been getting warmer even during its nights. Indeed, the tuktuk rides (a sheltered 3 wheeled motorcycle) at night offered a warm breeze that was only slightly better than the airless heat tuktuk riders had to combat in the daytime. Even as the El Nino effect has been attributed to the cause of rising temperatures3, Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh has not been entirely innocent.
1 rep., Report of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2021 (Phnom Penh: National Institute of Statistics, 2022). 2 Ibid.
Rising temperatures over the decades due to climate change and El Nino (World bank, 2021)
Average monthly temperatures (Author, 2023)
With ambitious plans of ‘becoming an upper middleincome country by 2030’,1 Cambodia has created a developmentalist agenda which is premised on the temperate environment. This is evident in the launching of Cambodia’s National Cooling Action Plan which places ‘sustainable cooling at center of its development and climate agenda’.2 In a speech during the launching of the cooling action plan, the representative of the United Nations in Cambodia remarked on the essentialness of cooling for ‘human health, prosperity, and productivity’3 Undoubtedly, there exists underlying colonial sensibilities of heat that continue to govern the visions of national development in Cambodia. This climate determinist mindset is so ingrained in the socio-cultural understandings of heat that a plan exclusively for cooling was established as part of Cambodia’s strategy for national development. Even though the cooling plan is portrayed as ‘sustainable’, its mere integration with its national development goals highlights a paradoxical view on the climate. Yet, many development plans such as the National Strategic Development Plan uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework, are grounded on this climate agenda. Moreover, the construction of these climate and environmental narratives in Cambodia’s have been far from organic. Indeed, the ideas on sustainable development and the incorporation of the climate agenda into future plans have been manufactured, promoted and orchestrated by a web of international aid organisations, private sector actors, and most notably, global development institutions (eg. the World Bank, ADB, UN, etc.). The invitation of multiple international private actors into the planning
1 Alissar Chaker , “National Launch Event of Cambodia’s National Cooling Action Plan and Inception Meeting for the Passive Cooling Strategies for Sustainable Development in Cambodia Project: United Nations Development Programme,” UNDP, March 9, 2023, https://www.undp.org/cambodia/speeches/national-launch-event-cambodias-national-cooling-action-plan-and-inception-meeting-passive-cooling-strategies-sustainable.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
development scene illustrates a level of autonomy and power over government policies. This influence of Western beneficiaries and ideals will undoubtedly have critical repercussions on Phnom Penh’s development direction and Cambodians’ right to their city.
The client-patron structures that emphasise the satisfaction of patrons over meeting the needs of the citizens undermine the political organisation of Cambodia. Phnom Penh with its mess of construction sites and missing pavements, is a blatant manifestation of how such relationships of patronage have had significant influence and power in shaping the future of urban spaces in the city. One example shared with me during my trip was the Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh hotel. As a planning rule, sites around the royal palace had to abide to height restrictions to maintain aesthetics and as a symbol of respect for the head of state. Yet, developments with economic value such as the hotel were exempted from planning restrictions. Clearly, profit-driven decisions take precedence over cultural and social values. This form of privatised urbanisation occurring in Phnom Penh have manifested in public spaces
National Cooling Action Plan
August 2022
Cambodia’s National Cooling Action Plan (Department of Climate Change, 2022)
Kingdom of Cambodia Nation-Religion-King
Cambodia’s
and street networks becoming an afterthought in city planning.4 This is further compounded by the ambiguity in the consultation and enforcement of the Master Plan for Phnom Penh 2035 before planning the construction of new projects.5 Furthermore, Cambodians are not able to provide their input on what they envision for the city as the full scope of the master plan is not open for public viewing and access is heavily restricted. In doing so, the municipal government have revoked Cambodians’ right to the city space and transferred such power to private capitalists. Ironically, the private sector and actors have a greater claim to Phnom Penh than its own citizens.
-continued-
4 Furqan Asif, Laura Beckwith, and Chanrith Ngin, “People and Politics: Urban Climate Resilience in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,” Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 4 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3389/ frsc.2022.972173.
5 Oung Ty Keithya, “How Phnom Penh Can Recapture Its Mid-Century Glory,” The Diplomat, August 12, 2022, https:// thediplomat.com/2022/08/how-phnom-penh-can-recapture-itsmid-century-glory/.
Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh (SCDA Architects, 2020)
Relation of Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh to Royal Palace (Author, 2023)
In a decade, Phnom Penh has significantly transformed from a city of gravel roads, low rise shophouses, colonial garden villas to a metropolis scattered with skyscrapers, gated communities and surrounded by satellite cities. As of 2022, there are 61 newly completed high rise developments with 60 more similar skyscrapers approved and under construction. The new developments in Phnom Penh all echo a capitalist model where land is valued based upon density and potential viability of commercial activities.1 Most new residential developments are gated communities, meaning that the average citizen both socially and physically excluded from their right to urban spaces in the city. Moreover, as new commercial developments are driven by economic goals, they only prioritise users of certain economic and social standing which constitutes only a small percentage of elite Cambodians. Indeed, the imbedding of the private sector in urban development plans have led to a commodification of land in Phnom Penh and the disappearance of public spaces that are truly
1 Furqan Asif, Laura Beckwith, and Chanrith Ngin, “People and Politics: Urban Climate Resilience in Phnom Penh, Cambodia,” Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 4 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3389/ frsc.2022.972173.
public and inclusive. With the commodification of land, deep floor plates and verticality becomes a requisite for space maximisation. As such, new developments in Phnom Penh reflect these design characteristics which contradict all values of climatic design and require massive amounts of artificial cooling. Consequently, a situation of thermal privilege in the city is created with the growing number of privatised public spaces. The asymmetry in socio-spatial relationships in Phnom Penh is hence exacerbated through thermal means.
Therefore, this thesis addresses this socio-spatial asymmetry in Phnom Penh through the mediation of heat. While challenging the status-quo urban development in the city – modernisation being dependent on the cool, my project reconciles Cambodians’ right to the city and their relationship with the climate.
Vattanac Capital security (Cambodia Constructors Association, 2019)
Mapping of new developments in Phnom Penh (Author, 2023)
A guy told me one time, “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.”
Heat, 1995
Hot Community of Practice
Hot Community of Practice
There have been a wide range of architects and creatives that have responded to heat and climate in their practice. I have noted three broad climatic responses in design practice – passive, vernacular, and adaptive. Nonetheless, the categories do not constitute the entirety of climatic design repertoire and there are always emerging responses in the climatic discourse. Passive design practice takes advantage of the site environment to build in harmony with the local context and achieve comfort. Although this form of practice works together with heat and the climate, it does not entirely accept it and instead mitigates its presence in the interior. Le Corbusier who sought the perfect optimisation of climates for health and comfort, referenced the local climate in his practice and theoretical proposals. Chandigarh is a paradigmatic example of passive design which moderates the hot climate through the use of extensive verandas and evaporative cooling.1 While the vernacular can be considered a subset of passive design, it is more so contextualised due to the application of sustainable traditions in practice. Vann Molyvann is a prolific Cambodian architect who pioneered the New Khmer Architecture movement that operates at the intersection of passive vernacular practice. He adapted modernist materials and aesthetics to the tropical local context while utilising Angkorian and vernacular motifs. For instance, the National Olympic Stadium, features a water moat, an Angkorian motif, and holes punched under the stadium seating, a passive design strategy.2 Ingenious traditions that constituted the vernacular naturally emerged from the fundamental need for shelters to provide protection and comfort from the external elements. Similar to passive practice, the vernacular does not entirely welcome the climate, instead correcting it.
1 Silvia Benedito and Iwan Baan, Atmosphere Anatomies: On Design, Weather, and Sensation (Zurich, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, 2021).
2 “Meet Vann Molyvann,” The Vann Molyvann Project, accessed November 13, 2023, https://www.vannmolyvannproject.org/ meet-vann-molyvann.
Adaptive practice is highly extensive in that there are many approaches ranging from technoscientific to the socio-cultural. Philippe Rahm’s work can be seen as an adaptive practice that seeks to create diversities through the internalisation of climate within the interior. He looks beyond the technical role of climate conditions, promoting them as a driver for his practice. Diurnism is an installation by Rahm which explores the relationship between circadian rhythms and solar rhythms.3 Unlike the passive and vernacular, adaptive practice embraces the climatic conditions. This thesis draws from both the passive vernacular and adaptive practice as sources of inspiration. Foregrounding the values of adaptive practice, the thesis simply accepts the condition of heat and looks at innovative ways to contend with its implications without completely diminishing its presence in the interior.
3 Philippe Rahm, “Diurnism,” Philippe Rahm Architectes, 2007, http://www.philipperahm.com/data/projects/diurnisme/index. html.
Chandigarh (Benjamin Hosking, 2016)
National Olympic Stadium (Author, 2023)
Diurnism (Philippe Rahm, 2007)
But noble souls, through dust and heat, Rise from disaster and defeat The stronger;
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1886
Heating It Up in Phnom Penh
The thesis envisions an accepting and truly hot city where the dangers of heat are acknowledged without it being entirely designed out. Situated in Freedom Park, the thesis features a low rise architecture of public spaces. In these shared spaces, the hot climate becomes a ubiquitous, penetrating medium which all Cambodians regardless of class and gender participate in. Challenging the typical developmentalist skyscrapers of thermal privilege, the thesis endeavours to return Cambodians their rights to the city and its urban public spaces. Essentially, this project sets out to establish a social contract to heat wherein there is an implicit acceptance of the hot climate without retaliation in the form of artificial cooling, which compounds the issue of rising temperatures. Through this project, the relationship between bodies, climate and urban spaces in Phnom Penh are (re)mediated.
The thesis also contends with the issue of urban heat island effect which is a growing concern in the architectural and urban planning field. In the modern age of technology where advancements are made every day, an increasing array of mechanical cooling technologies have freed the architect from the need to consider climatic context. Such reliance, and temperate constructs have been so ingrained in architectural discourse that even as we address heat in passive design, urban heat island effect is produced from the very materials we design with.1 Looking beyond the vernacular and passive, this project radically rethinks a hot city, by looking at the socio-cultural dimension of living in a hot city through solar rhythms and capitalising on existing urban conditions.
1 Jiat-Hwee Chang and Tim Winter, “Thermal Modernity and Architecture,” The Journal of Architecture 20, no. 1 (2015): 92–121, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2015.1010095.
of a shared space in a hot hot city that premises solar rhythms (Author, 2023)
Sketch
In thermal infrastructure discourse, the vernacular, green infrastructure, and environmental technology have been over-explored. Seeking to expand beyond the existing palette of thermal infrastructure, this thesis takes a holistic stance on addressing heat in Phnom Penh. Rather than conform to the pressures of large-scale mixed developments, a shared space in a hot city could have finer urban grain with low buildings shielded by tree canopy. Furthermore, this thesis capitalises on existing urban conditions and transform them into positives for a truly hot city. This takes the form of a low building that explores thermal circadian rhythms, urban shade, and leakages from the new developmentalist architecture.
The site is the old Freedom Park which is centrally located in downtown Phnom Penh between the historical temples site of Wat Phnom and Vattanac Capital, a relatively new development. This site was originally known as Freedom Park before it was relocated to the outskirts of the city. Just as it has been named, the site used to be a democratic space for designated protests within the city. Currently, it has been designated for redevelopment and beautification works. The government claimed that the relocation of the old Freedom Park was necessary as its city centre site is in a prime location which would affect businesses and cause public disorder.1 The relocation of the central Freedom Park bears witness to a loss in democratic space in the city. The siting of the architectural project in the original Freedom Park site is symbolic as it returns this shared space to Cambodians. Moreover, its central location provides an interesting urban condition as the site is surrounded by a mix of new high-rise developments and low-rise colonial buildings. Apart from Vattanac Capital, Exchange Square, Canadia Tower, and Cambodia Post Bank are some of the new high-rise developments that provide opportunities for exploration on urban shade.
1 Sun Narin and VOA Khmer, “As Gov’t Prepares to Shutter Freedom Park for Good, Residents Express Mixed Views on Its Legacy,” Voice of America, February 17, 2017, https://www.voacambodia.com/a/as-government-prepares-to-shutter-freedom-park-forgood-residents-express-mixed-views-on-its-legacy/3729236.html.
shade (Author, 2023)
Urban
Site (Author, 2023)
Freedom Park
During the French colonial era, it was a tradition for the privileged colonialists and Khmer royals to retreat to Bokor Hill Station in the mountains when the capital became too hot and unbearable. Such habits and practices that dealt with heat and even time (seasons) have been disappearing with the advent of urbanisation and artificial cooling. As Phnom Penh has yet to fully urbanise, there is still evidence of such temporal habits of heat management when I visited the city. Phnom Penh becomes a ‘hot’ city only in the early mornings and evenings, when the city comes alive with urban dwellers that start their day early and enjoy outdoor activities in the evening so as avoid the worst of the sun’s heat. Going beyond a temporary ‘hot’ city, this thesis hopes to produce an architecture of shared space which is ‘hot’ from day to night. In this shared space, thermal day-to-day rhythms unite Cambodians and the urban dwellers relationship with time is celebrated – early morning and evening outdoor activities, afternoon siestas, etc. Perhaps the Khmer culture of rain betting could serve as a programme driver to activate the space at various times of the day, due to its 3-segment daily timetable. The interplay of the surrounding urban conditions, time and shade is explored in the thesis crafting a thermal rhythm that all Cambodians can participate in.
afternoon siestas in the hammock
wrapping of krama scarf
frolicking along the Bassac River
Thermal rhythms that guide a Cambodian’s day (Author, 2023)
Arial view of Freedom Park adjacent to Exchange Square
Rendering of Exchange Square
Change of site from Freedom Park to explore adjacent Exchange Square, a ‘premium’ shopping centre with offices of international banks and organisations such as UNICEF and World Bank.
Exploration of typical floor plan for carving out redundantly cooled spaces and complementary programmatic opportunities in Exchange Square.
Redefining the edge and creating a hot buffer
Massing and structure iterations
Drawing from the idea of a cool box, Exchange Square and air buoyancy to create thermal cascades
Section through iteration and existing
Massing and structure iterations
Exploring local heat coping tactics... The
Hammock (Siestas)
Exploring local heat coping tactics... The Umbrella
Exploring local heat coping tactics... The old school Ice and Water
Exploring local heat coping tactics... The Bastardising of Sheets, Pipes, etc as Shelter
Iteration playing on the idea of circulation and thermal cascades
CoolHotboxes Facade
CoolHotboxes Facade
Iteration playing on the idea of circulation and thermal cascades... Hot and cool pods with stairs as tubes of circulation and convection flow
Exploring a variety of thermal cascades and thermal organisations through massing
Considerations of ventilation and air bouyancy due to cool air from Exchange Square vs hot air from climate
Exploring a variety of thermal cascades and thermal organisations as well as complementary scenarios in various spaces
Final Iteration
Choreographed scenarios in various hot, cool and hybrid spaces using air bouyancy due to cool air from Exchange Square vs hot air from climate
Faceted screen and ‘chimneys’ aid in creating greater surface area for hot boxes and encourage air flow.
Hot climate of Phnom Penh is capitalised on to create an air vacuum to suck out cool air from the cool box (Exchange Square) for hybrid spaces.
Interesting scenarios can be imagined in these spaces with various thermal cascades. Moreover, redundantly cooled and exhausted spaces in Exchange Square can be pushed out, hence reducing energy load.
The Hybrid Box
Bibliography
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I certify that except where due acknowledgment has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the project is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program, any editorial work, paid or unpaid carried out by a third party is acknowledged, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Intellectual Property Rights are retained by Chng Yoke Minn, Ashley, who asserts moral rights and all other rights to be identified as the author of this work. I have acknowledged all copyright holders on the images and other references used.
BLANK PAGE
Heat Year 2023
Hot Air: Climate, Carbon & Capital Professor Erik L’Heureux
Master of Architecture Programme AY2023/2024
Department of Architecture College of Design and Engineering
