Shwe Rural and Urban Development Bank on Pansodan and Merchant streets downtown was memorably described this week as resembling a UFO in the middle of a village road.
But Yangon Heritage Trust chairman Thant Myint-U was a little more blunt.
Writing on his Facebook page on Thursday, he referred to the bank owned by the Shwe Than Lwin Company as “this incredibly ugly structure.”
“This building will do irreparable harm to the downtown conservation area and could cost Yangon residents hundreds of millions of dollars in future tourism revenue,” he wrote in the post.
“This incredibly ugly structure has been built right in the middle of what is otherwise an untouched early 20th century streetscape, next to places of considerable historical and architectural significance.
The building goes directly against a government decision in 2013 that nothing could be built in the neighbourhood that harms its special heritage character.”
He added that the preservation group is attempting to persuade the company to at least change the facade.
We hope that works, though the developers don’t have a great track record when it comes to listening to experts. No joke, even their own architect was kept out of the loop.
