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Ben Bansal / Elliott Fox / Manuel Oka
Yangon Architectural Guide
With photographs by Manuel Oka
134 × 245 mm, 400 pages
400 images, softcover
978-3-86922-375-9 (English)
EUR 38,00 / CHF 46,40
October 2015. DOM publishers, Berlin

New from DOM publishers:

Ben Bansal ⁄ Elliott Fox ⁄ Manuel Oka

Architectural Guide Yangon

Following decades of isolation, Myanmar has once again become a travel destination. The architecture of Yangon alone is worth a visit since more than a century’s built heritage is (still) surprisingly intact, unlike that of regional neighbours such as Hong Kong, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Anyone who reads the Architectural Guide Yangon (DOM publishers) will come to the same conclusion.
 
In Rangoon – as this commercial centre of British India was known under the British – Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim houses of worship stand side by side with stunning buildings, many of them former traders’ headquarters from Baghdad to Glasgow who, in the days of the British Empire, came to Rangoon to seek their fortune. After the country’s independence in 1948 and a relatively short phase of democracy – marred by civil war – came the notorious 1962 coup. Since then, the city has been increasingly shaped by authoritarian military regimes.

Today, as Myanmar slowly re-opens to the wider world, Yangon is a bustling city in constant flux and transformation. This guide helps readers to understand this complex urban fabric.

The authors Ben Bansal, Elliott Fox and Manuel Oka recall the history of the city through more than 100 striking buildings found throughout the city, from the ancient Shwedagon Pagoda to the colonial period and right up to the present day. They present lesser known architecture from the 1950s and 1960s, when the USA and the USSR fought for influence by funding buildings and sending their best architects. They describe the legacy of the military junta, places of unrest during the historic 1988 and 2007 protests, and key landmarks in the rise of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

All those wanting to learn about Myanmar and its capital – or see it in a new light – will find many interesting facts, details and anecdotes in this book. Architecture serves the authors as a magnifying glass for the illumination of the historical, social and economic context. In this way, the authors succeed in providing a memorable snapshot of the former capital of a country preparing itself for crucial general elections in November 2015.
 
With volumes on Indonesia and China being released almost simultaneously, DOM publishers is expanding the Architectural Guide series by covering three additional destinations in the Asian region.




All images © Manuel Oka


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The travel guides by DOM publishers are intended for those interested in building culture and are presented in a convenient format. A careful selection of projects and expert proofreading make these books a (lexical) reference work, while background information and a fresh design stimulate imaginary journeys. The series was awarded an Iconic Award 2014 by the German Design Council.
For further information see:
www.dom-publishers.com