Central Market, Art Deco market hall in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Central Market is an Art Deco market hall with four wings radiating from a central yellow dome. Hundreds of vendors operate across different sections, selling everything from jewelry to food and textiles.
The market was decided on in the late 1920s as Phnom Penh's population reached 90,000, but construction only began in August 1935 after the Great Depression delayed the project. City architect Jean Desbois drew the plans, Louis Chauchon supervised the build, and King Sisowath Monivong inaugurated it in September 1937. Thai aircraft bombed it in 1941, and a French-funded restoration was completed in 2011.
The Khmer name Phsar Thum Thmei means "New Grand Market". Stalls are grouped by trade: jewellery under the central dome, and each wing given over to clothing, shoes, electronics, or meat and fish. The four wings are said to echo the four arms of the Mekong, Tonlé Sap and Bassac confluence.
The market opens at 7am and closes at 5pm. The central dome holds the jewellery stalls, while each of the four wings is given over to a single trade: clothing, shoes, electronics, and meat and fish. Openings in the wings draw in air that exits at the top of the dome.
The building was deliberately designed with sophisticated ventilation through its Art Deco architecture to create natural airflow. This engineering approach was quite advanced for Cambodia's hot climate when it was built.
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