Cambodia’s Modernist Forefather Is So Back

One of Phnom Penh’s newest coffee shops sits inside a four-story oasis at the center of town. Under a parabolic roof, the upper floors of the cube-like building are rotated 45 degrees to reduce street noise, while double-layered walls and an array of openings help keep it cool in Cambodia’s tropical heat. In the café, which is found on the ground floor overlooking a palm-tree filled garden, twenty-somethings sit with their laptops and sip coffee while talking in hushed voices.

Part of the draw for the young crowd is the drink service and third space provided by Brown Coffee’s new Mao Tse Toung Boulevard location, which opened in 2025. But the building is an attraction unto itself, being the former home of modernist architect Vann Molyvann. Visitors can grab a coffee on the ground floor, then see models of the Cambodian architect’s designs in the in-house museum on the top level or pore over his drawings in the neighboring archive room. Vann, who died in 2017, designed hundreds of buildings across the country during a period of urban investment, including stadiums, theaters, and universities, many of which have become national icons. Now, 100 years since his birth, a new generation of Cambodians is connecting with his work through the recent renovation of his 1966 residence.