Past
In the 1960s, the development of the Bassac river front was part of an ambitious scheme for a new Phnom Penh. It included developing 24 hectares of reclaimed land along the Bassac river with low-cost housing and public buildings such as the exhibition hall and national theatre.

An international team of town planners assisted Lu Ban Hap (Director of the Municipal Town Planning and Housing Department) and Vann Molyvann (Head of the Urban Planning and Housing Department of the Ministry of Public Works) who led the initiative. 

The Bassac Municipal Apartments or “the Building” was part of the vision for a new Phnom Penh. Designed by Lu Ban Hap and Vladimir Bodiansky and inaugurated in 1963, the project consisted initially of 468 apartments and introduced an innovative ownership scheme: the rent was paid for 10 years to the municipality after which the dwellers owned the apartment. The Building was created mainly for lower and middle-income groups, such as municipal staff, teachers and other public servants, who were seeking to become owner-occupiers. During the Khmer Rouge period, all the Building’s residents along with the rest of Phnom Penh were forced to leave the city.

Today and the Future
While the Building represents the heyday of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, it has also become one of Phnom Penh’s largest “slums”.  Still, it is home to some 10,000 residents including artists, musicians, community activists and everyday city dwellers.  The fading and deteriorating infrastructure belies the vibrant community that lives within its graying walls.
The future for these residents is, however, uncertain.  The land upon which the Building sits is worth millions of dollars in Cambodia’s booming building sector.  For many, the Building embodies a variety of contemporary Cambodian issues concerning human rights, land rights, economic growth and the roles on government and private investment in Cambodia’s development.

Since December 2007, over 300 families have been evicted and moved to the outskirts of the city without sufficient public services or access to land to restart their lives. The residents who managed to prove their ownership sold their property to the developers at well-below market rates. Others are still trying to hang on and resist land speculators.

It is anticipated that the Building will be demolished in the near future.  This visual art project is an effort to capture its story and what it represents for Cambodian culture and society, yesterday, today and tomorrow.