Instructors: Narin Paranulaksa & Pannasan Sombuntham
Thailand is the country where 95% of population follows the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. According to the article, “The Role of Buddhism in Enhancing Environmental Philosophy and Psychology in the West Today” by Phil Brown, the author stated that “Buddhism provides all the essential elements for a relationship to the natural world characterized by respect, humility, care and compassion.” Thais are not different from other lay Buddhists around the world. Thais of different generations have been taught to understand, adapt, and appropriate themselves passively to both the constructed and natural environments. The slow and simple approach to Thais’ way of living can still be seen outside of the metropolitan areas. In this light, one cannot deny its deeply rooted influence of the Buddhist teachings and philosophy on Thai people.
The various forms of informal settlements can be found all around Thailand for more the reason of adaptation to different environmental conditions than financial reason. The three seasons of Thailand present its people with substantial shifts in temperature and humidity level within the cycle of each year. Thai architects and builders have long been on the quest to finding architectural solution which appropriately adapts to the environmental flux and serves different functions of the people.
Traditional Thai-house typology is a great example of architectural solutions which deals with the issue of environmental shifts in Thailand. Raised floor, high pitched roof, semi outdoor spaces, and kit-of-parts construction are the main features which boast the success of the Thai house. However, the Thai house typology has unfortunately lost its regards due to the changing values and ideals of people in the society. For this workshop, students will be asked to investigate the downscaled architectural typology which shares similar philosophy in its capacity to adapt to the environment as the Thai house. Vendor’s carts of distinct characteristics and properties will be the workshop’s subject of investigation
The economy of Thailand has long been driven by transactions which took place at these small mobile units of architecture. Universally, the vendor’s carts are vehicles which incorporate spaces to store and display products while commuting to different locations. Not only have these small vehicles hosted the transactions between sellers and buyers on streets of Thailand, the lesser formal nature of these “shops” have also shaped the more contiguous social structure between individuals within communities of Thailand. Perhaps, the most apparent proof is in the way Thais generally address strangers as their family members including the vendors who pass by their front doors.
Process
Stage 1: Research of different vendor’s vehicles categorized by products and (or) services
Stage 2: Selection of the specific vehicle to analyze
-Students shall study:
a) Environments at which the selected vehicle travels and adapts to, b) The physical properties of the selected vehicle, c) The different function(s) which the selected vehicle can accommodate, d) The cycle(s) involved in the operations of the selected vehicle.
Stage 3: Documentation of the findings
Stage 4: To imagine and speculate on the possibilities of how the selected vehicle can evolve in different context(s) and perform different function(s) in future time of each student’s choice. For this stage, students will have the freedom to visualize environmental and cultural conditions that are dissimilar to those found in reality of the selected vehicle. Students shall also propose new or additional usage(s) of the selected vehicle.
