Restoring Rangoon

101 East takes a rare peek inside Yangon's most famous building, as Myanmar's colonial architecture is under threat.





Myanmar’s former capital, Yangon, boasts one of the most spectacular early-20th century urban landscapes in Asia.

A century ago the country’s former capital was one of the world's great trading cities and the legacy of that cosmopolitan past remains today.

Saved from the fate of other Asian cities due to the country's isolation under military rule, Yangon’s downtown area is a unique blend of cultural and imperial architecture, considered to be the last surviving "colonial core" in Asia.

But as the country opens up, this unique heritage is under threat. Decades of neglect have left once grand buildings a crumbling mess and they are at grave risk of being demolished in favour of hastily built towers and condominiums.

Some of the damage has already been done as developers race to cash in on the country’s rapid pace of change.

Myanmar historian and scholar, Thant Myint U, is leading the charge to preserve Yangon’s heritage and return many buildings to their former glory.

He has founded the Yangon Heritage Trust, a group pushing for a cohesive urban plan for the city. The stories of the buildings and the people who lived - and still live in them today, are truly unique in the world.