Myanmar architecture
Myanmar's traditional architecture is primarily used for worship, pilgrimage, storage of Buddhist relics, political activism and tourism.
The Mon and Pyu people were the first two influential groups to migrate to Myanmar, and the first Indo-Chinese adherents of Theravada Buddhism.
Early stupas, temples and pagodas are topped with htis and finials or spires symbolizing Theravada Buddhist transcendence.
Stucco features of Bagan structures include garlands, flames or rays of the sun, peacock tail feathers and mythical creatures.
Architectural features of the temple include brick vaulted halls, Buddha statues, tapered roofs and the absence of terraces.
With both royal and religious symbolism, many of the temple's images depict the Buddha seated before an odd number of pyatthat tiers.
[15] Burmese dynasties had a long history of building regularly planned cities along the Irawaddy valley between the 14th to 19th century.
Town planning in pre-modern Burma reached its climax during the Konbaung period with cities such as Amarapura and Mandalay.
Wooden monasteries of this period intricately decorated with wood carvings of the Jataka Tales are one of the more prominent distinctive examples of traditional Burmese architecture that survive to the present day.
[18] The monastery's construction strictly adheres to traditional rules of Burmese monastic architecture and includes all of the designated pyatthat-crowned pavilions.
[22] As large, colonial buildings were built throughout the city, social disruption in Burma spawned nationalist rallies and anti-colonial protests.
In the 1950s, the American architect Benjamin Polk designed the Pitaka Taik (also known as the Buddhist Tripitaka Library) for the University of Yangon featuring the brutalist bare concrete style due to shortages of other construction materials.
In the 1960s, the Burmese architect U Kyaw Min designed the mausoleum for independence hero and poet Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, featuring art deco decorations with the brutalist style.
This more modernist style of repeating units was also used earlier in 1958 for the Yangon Children's Hospital by Burmese architect U Tun Than.
[27] It is surrounded by smaller shrines, and is topped with a gem-encrusted seinbu (diamond bud)[27] and a seven-tiered hti[28] representing Burmese spirituality.
[30] On 26 August 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi spoke before a large audience about democracy at the pagoda's west gate.
[32] The Mandalay Palace is an example of wooden architecture in Myanmar, which emphasizes exterior aesthetics rather than interior space.
Due to the tropical climate, frequent renovations of the wood-and stucco palace have been necessary; some of its original teak has been reinforced with concrete.
[42] In 1962, on alleged orders from Ne Win, the Rangoon University Students' Union was demolished (although the main campus still contains lecture and residence halls from the colonial period).
[47] Pagodas and temples have been renovated to promote "monumental Buddhism", the renewal of Buddhist architecture for a sense of authenticity.
