This paper tells a story of the White Building (1963-2017) in Phnom Penh, involving a collaboration between European and local architects during the Sangkum Reastr Niyum era (1953–1970). This low cost housing was designed for a modern Cambodian of the future, and has been further vernacularized by residents. Although such “informal” additions and the structural deterioration of the building have resulted in the White Building being cast as a site of social as well as material decay. The essay describes how the White Building has also become home to a community of artists who are revalorizing its place in the city and nation, and using it for political and artistic re-imagination of urban futures.
