Vink

John Vink/Magnum Photos Belgian photographer John Vink spent years splitting his time between Europe and Southeast Asia, shooting photographs of refugees in war-torn countries.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos The home's three bedrooms all have a three-level, split layout, so that you can see the view from the window while sleeping or standing.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos An environmentally friendly cooling system was central to the plan: A chimney-type design in the middle of the house functions as a wind-driven cooling system.

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Mr. Vink bought a 2,000-square-meter lot from a local religious order that was moving its pagoda to a new location, and paid about $5 a square meter for the scrubby, jungly property.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos Built at a cost of about $170,000, including permits, architecture plans and construction materials, the house is newly completed, but Mr. Vink is still furnishing it and landscaping is a work in progress.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos Mr. Vink says thieves have twice swiped the copper wires that run electricity up the one-kilometer hill from the road to the house.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos To blunt the effect of the often-piercing sun, the architect, Mr. Sellon, installed steel louvers to cover the top half-meter of the western and northwestern sides of the building, above the balcony, shading the living area—which has three-meter-high ceilings—from the midday sun.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos A month after construction began, Mr. Vink thought all the permits were in order, until an inspector from the local environmental protection office showed up and ordered a halt to the project.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos In early 2009, he decided to build a permanent place in the hills outside Kep.

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John Vink/Magnum Photos The home, which sits on a hillside roughly 60 meters above sea level, has a sweeping view of the Kampot plains to the northwest.

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