CAMBODIA

MAGAZINE History of Architecture 3

2BSARCHI
Aguilar, Janela Laurene A.
Bautista, Kacey G.
 01
ARCHITECTURAL TOUR

This magazine shows all the

information needed to have an
architectural tour in
Cambodia.

"Fear not the future, weep not

for the past"
ARCHITECTURAL TOUR 02

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Introduction
04 Largely a land of plains and great
rivers

History
05 Cambodia became a French
colony

Land
05 1/3 size of France

Relief
05 Characterized by a low -lying
central alluvial plain

Drainage
06 Mekong River and Tonle Sap
ARCHITECTURAL TOUR 03

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Soils
07 Soils are sandy and poor in
nutrients

Ethnic Group
08 Include Chinese, Vietnamese,
Muslin, Cham-Malays, etc.

Religion
Most ethnic Khmer are Theravada
08
Rural Settlement
Cambodia's people inhabited the
08 central lowland region

Architecture
People were living in caves,
09 developing stone making
techniques, etc.
WAT KEAN KLEANG
BUDDHIST TEMPLE IN PHNOM PENH,
CAMBODIA
 A/M - Project
KNOW ABOUT
CAMBODIA
Southeast Asia's Indochinese mainland
country. Cambodia is primarily a land of
plains and great rivers, and it is located
along important overland and river trade
routes connecting China to India and
Southeast Asia.
Cambodia is primarily a land of plains and
great rivers, and it is located along
important overland and river trade routes
connecting China to India and Southeast
Asia. Many Asian cultures and those of
France and the United States can be seen
in Phnom Penh, the capital and one of the
country's few urban centers.
04
Introduction
Cambodia's civilization absorbed influences
from India and China for 2,000 years before
passing them on to other Southeast Asian
civilizations. The Khmer (Cambodian)
empire reached its zenith in the 12th
century, when the massive temple
complexes known as Angkor Wat and
Bayon, as well as the imperial capital of
Angkor Thom, were built.
 History

After 400 years of decline,

Cambodia became a French
colony and experienced the
turmoil of war, Japanese
occupation, postwar
independence, and political
instability during the twentieth
century. The Khmer Rouge, a
rural communist guerrilla
movement, ruled the country
from 1975 to 1979.

Cambodia began its recovery

process under the Vietnam-
backed People's Republic of
Kampuchea regime (1979-89),
and in the 1990s it regained
political autonomy, reestablished
a constitutional government,
and instituted free elections.

Cambodia's economy has

steadily improved, and the
country appears to be living by
the proverb "Fear not the future,
weep not for the past."
LAND RELIEF
Cambodia is roughly one-third the Cambodia's landscape is
size of France and slightly larger defined by a low-lying central
than the state of Missouri in the alluvial plain surrounded by
United States. It is bounded on uplands and low mountains, as
the west and northwest by well as the Tonle Sap (Great
Thailand, on the northeast by Lake) and the upper reaches of
Laos, on the east and southeast by the Mekong River delta.
Vietnam, and on the southwest by Transitional plains extend
the Gulf of Thailand. outward from this central
region, thinly forested and
rising to elevations of about 650
feet (200 meters) above sea
level.

05
 Cambodia 06

DRAINAGE

Mekong River

Cambodia's two most important

hydrological features are the
Mekong River and the Tonle Sap
Lake.

Tonle Sap Lake

 07

Soil
The majority of Cambodia's soils are
sandy and deficient in nutrients.
However, the so-called red-soil areas in
the country's east are suitable for
commercial crops such as rubber and
cotton.
Architecture
CAMBODIA
Ethnic Group
#01
The Khmer (Cambodians) make
up the vast majority of the
population, resulting in a
homogeneity that is unique in
Southeast Asia and has fostered
a strong sense of national
identity. Chinese, Vietnamese,
Muslim Cham-Malays, Laotians,
and various indigenous peoples
of the rural highlands are among
the ethnic minorities.
08
Religion Rural Settlement
#02 #03
The majority of ethnic Khmer Until the mid-1970s, the vast
are Theravada (Hinayana) majority of Cambodians lived in
Buddhists (belonging to the the central lowland region,
older and more traditional of where the rural village was the
Buddhism's two great schools, second most important social
the other being Mahayana). unit after the family.
Until 1975, Buddhism was
officially recognized as
Cambodia's state religion.
All religious practices were
prohibited during the Khmer
Rouge regime. The pro-
Vietnamese communist regime
that ruled Cambodia in the
1980s encouraged Buddhism in a
limited way, and Theravada
Buddhism was restored as the
state religion in Cambodia in
1993.
09

ARCHITECTURE

People lived in caves at the dawn of civilization, developing stone-making techniques, hunting, and
producing highly artistic pottery. By the 1st century, settlers had begun to form complexes, defying
religious divisions, organizing societies, and so on. The most forward-thinking groups settled along the
coasts for agriculture and began to keep domestic animals.
The earliest evidence of human habitation in Cambodia was discovered at Loang Spean in northwestern
Cambodia. It became involved around 5000 B.C. People who lived in caves polished stones and decorated
pottery with line and brush markings. The main evidence for village-like settlements comes from the site of
Bas-Plateaux in southeastern Cambodia, which was first occupied in the second century B.C.
The Khmers developed their architectural style during the Angkor period of the Khmer Empire. The rock-
cutting technique from Indian architecture influenced Khmer architecture, particularly in sculptures,
which later influenced Southeast Asia and were further adopted by the Indianised architecture of
Cambodian, Annamese, and Javanese temples. During the Angkor period, the emphasis was unavoidably
on stone temples and other religious structures that have survived to the present day. Rest structures, such
as dwellings, were non-religious, made of wood, and had perished.

The Khmer Empire was a powerful kingdom, but before that, three major architectural styles were
followed in Cambodia, which dominated most of the Indochina region. The three architectural styles were:
Sambor Prei Kuk (610-650), Prei Khmeng (635-700), and Kompong Preah (700-800). From the ninth to the
fifteenth centuries, ancient Khmer architecture, also known as Angkorian architecture, flourished. During
this time, the emphasis was primarily on religious architecture.
 Cambodia 10

Statue of Sihanouk
Norodom
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
 Wat Langka
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

11
Cambodia 12

Tsubasa Bridge
located at the western side of
Yokohama Bay