The Nan Daung Cinema - Mawlemyine, Mon State, Myanmar

The Nan Daung Cinema is yet another example of what I've been pitching to the architecture community as a form Burmese vernacularism within the modernist movement. Burmese Polychromes, I've dubbed them. 

My rationale is pretty simple:

1) These buildings all have multi-hued (polychromatic) patterns on the otherwise plain, boxy facades. All display key elements of mid-century International Style.  

2) I've only seen this look in Burma/Myanmar. Theoretically, this design style gained popularity among cinema architects, professional or otherwise, during the 1950's and early 1960's. As a result, within the closed circuit of builders and architects working in the country, this became a common look.

Combine the look with the location and you've got a newly minted architectural genre: Burmese Polychrome Cinemas. 

The Nan Daung Cinema in the heart of Mawlemyine.

Night time street view of the Nan Daung Cinema.

The only visual evidence that the Nan Daung remains is the minuscule drooping signage clinging to the facade.

In its current state, the Nan Daung is a little known, scarcely remembered blighted ruin. When talking to locals about where I might find old theaters around town, nobody made mention of this place. It only dawned on me after multiple strolls past it that I was indeed strolling past an old movie theater. 

My attempts at getting inside without trespassing went nowhere. Workers at the surrounding businesses, usually the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to getting information, seemed completely disinterested. A young woodworker employed at a neighboring furniture manufacturer looked at me like I was mad when I inquired with him about the mold covered structure next door. Most other folks simply shrugged.

It's likely that the interior is either a dilapidated mess, or is being used for storage of some kind, though there didn't seem to be much activity to that end. 

After some friendly leads put me in touch with a former employee, and the brief conversation which transpired, a date of construction sometime around 1960 was established. 

Beyond that, the Nan Daung Cinema remains a very big unknown.