Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
YANGON'S COLONIAL HERITAGE
Downtown Yangon boasts one of the world's greatest collections of
colonialarchitecture
,
and is the last major city in Myanmar to preserve its original nineteenth-century core at
least partially intact, with (in places, at least) entire streets still lined with their original
buildings. Decades of neglect have taken a serious toll, however, with historic buildings
subdivided into shops, flats or just abandoned to squatters, as well as being disfigured with
adverts, satellite dishes, radio masts and mass air-conditioning units. Many structures are
now in an advanced state of disrepair, while other landmark buildings once occupied by
various ministries have all been left empty since the government upped sticks and moved
to Naypyitaw in 2005.
Thescaleofthepreservationrequiredisimmense(thecostofrestoringthelandmarkSec-
retariat building alone has been costed at $100m-plus, for example), while the urgent need
for land and new buildings in downtown means that many colonial-era structures face an
uncertain future. The establishment in 2012 of the
YangonHeritageTrust
(
yangonher-
itagetrust.org
) by influential historian Dr Thant Myint-U is a major step in the right direc-
tion, with the aim of establishing a citywide plan for the conservation of historically signi-
ficant buildings, although how much can be saved in this rapidly developing city remains
to be seen.
Pansodan Street
Thesouthernendof
PansodanStreet
wasoncethecity'smostprestigiousaddress,andtoday
the street is still lined with a veritable beauty parade of fine old colonial edifices. Starting
fromthejunctionwithMahabandoolaRoad,thefirstmajorbuildingisthe
GovernmentTele-
graph Office
: a red-brick colossus with paired white ionic columns above its entrance, al-
though the whole thing's looking a bit run-down, with a crumbling upper storey and a radio
mast plonked unceremoniously on the roof.
Southofhere,ontheeastsideoftheroadatthejunctionwithMerchantStreet,isthechintzy
Sofaer's Building
, built in 1906 by the Baghdad-born, Rangoon-educated Jewish brothers
Isaac and Meyer Sofaer. This was once the epicentre of city life, home to the city's Reu-
ters telegram office and shops selling German beer, Scottish whisky, Egyptian cigarettes and
English sweets. Part of the ground floor has now been renovated as the excellent
Gecko
res-
taurant, with the original Manchester-manufactured floor tiles and Lanarkshire steel beams
preserved
in situ
, although the rest of the ground floor is now boarded up and looking sadly
derelict.
Opposite Sofaer's stands the
Internal Revenue Department
(1936) with Art Deco flour-
ishes (still sporting its original “Rander House” sign). Further down (on the left) is the large
and rather plain
Inland Water Transport
office (1933), its corniche decorated with sea-
