hybrid vernacular informalities the floating village of Chong Kneas
vernacular | cambodia by tijen roshko
Tonle Sap Lake is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia, and lies in the central plains of Cambodia. The main tributary of the lake, the Tonle Sap River, displays a unique hydrological phenomenon. As the rainy season commences, the excess water from the Mekong River reverses the direction of flow of the Tonle Sap River and leads, as a consequence, to the inundation of 1.25 million hectares of forest and agricultural land for several months each year. During this period, the surface area of the lake more than quadruples and its depth increases by a factor of ten. 1 The Cambodian villages are predominantly located on the land surrounding the lake. However, a substantial population of Cambodians also resides in villages on the surface of the lake itself. One of these is a collection of floating villages known as Chong Kneas, which exhibits its own unique rhythm and harmony in response to the changing seasons and weather conditions. The villages have their own enclosed communities which encompass diverse cultural groups, including the majority ethnic Khmer, as well as Vietnamese, Cham Muslim and Chinese minorities. The urban migration that occurred in the Tonle Sap area following liberation from the Pol Pot regime in 1979 had an enormous impact on the fragile ecology of the region. The previously sparsely populated Tonle Sap region was overwhelmed with under-privileged and war-ravaged immigrants. Survivors of the regime, devoid of educational and financial resources, migrated to the great lake area to settle. The landless majority used the free resources offered by the lake as the main provider for their survival. Over the past 20 years, the settlement population has increased and house forms have begun to assume more unique shapes and to reflect the diversity of cultural backgrounds. The current settlement trends are attributed to a variety of causes, such as not owning land, family disputes, economic issues, and lack of education and skills. An estimated 80,000 people are living in floating villages around Tonle Sap, and the Khmer population makes up the majority. 2
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On Site review 21: stormy weather
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