Chatpong Chuenrudeemol, of CHAT Architects, Thailand, is an architect and researcher renowned for what he called “Bangkok Bastards”, a project that investigated unsightly urban areas, such as construction site camps, inner-city slums and retail stalls abandoned and reclaimed by nature. Rethinking them from a new perspective, he was able to restore them to life in an interesting way.
Outstanding products of “Bangkok Bastards” included the Samsen Street Hotel, a downtown lodging inspired by scaffolding wooden planks and metal poles on the outside of a building. Together they gave rise to exciting new design bearing some resemblance to the raised platforms attached to a building during construction.
Samsen Street Hotel / Courtesy of CHAT ArchitectsSamsen Street Hotel / Courtesy of CHAT Architects
In a way, the Samsen Street Hotel is a revelation of previously unseen aspects of building design, a conceptualization that culminates in a thorough change in the form, character and experience in a very open and visible way. Taken as a whole, it’s a piece of architecture designed to promote social interactions, a community hub for hosting events and spaces for people to meet in the Samsen Street neighborhood. That’s not all. He also has other projects in the making, basically focusing on reuse and rethink as ways to create places of higher quality than he found it.
Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion / Courtesy of CHAT ArchitectsAngsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion / Courtesy of CHAT Architects
A little bit about Chatpong Chuenrudeemol
Chatpong is founder of CHAT Architects and winner of the 2020 Silapathorn Award in Architecture.
After completing his master’s degree at Harvard University’s School of Architecture, Chatpong returned to Thailand where he set up a business called CHAT Architects. He was very interested in architectural styles that reflected the true values, experience and the way of life of ordinary people. His research in urban planning and development was inspired by a feeling of wanting to know more about happenings in the street. They included events in the community, construction site camps and deserted retail stalls, to name but a few. Their untidy outward appearances belied the quality of being honest and truthful to others.
Like everything else, the buildings built by non-architects based on local needs and available materials deserved a second chance. So, it’s up to the architect to rethink them from a different point of view and put them to good use once more. After all, there is value in everything.
(Re)Thinking inside the Box is a series of discussion events focusing on the issues abovementioned. It’s all a matter of perspective about what can be done to address the problem of limited living space in the city. It’s a forum for people to explore new possibilities and look at the problem from within, thereby turning a challenge into a solution. Hence, the title is (Re)Thinking inside the Box, as an alternative to outside-the-box thinking.
“Reinterpreting Narrowness” is an excerpt from research on the subject of an architectural style ubiquitous in Vietnam by Officine Gặp. Founded in 2021 by Yuri Frassi and Afra Rebuscini, Officine Gặp is a research studio committed to the study of urban planning and development involving people with specialist knowledge in Ho Chi Minh City. It investigates the experience and opinions of local residents in a bid to arrive at conclusive findings about the appearance of design and lifestyles in a given area.
Among other things, it looks into the narrow front row house, aka the “Tube House”, a style of residential architecture prevailing in cities across Vietnam. The research project titled “Reinterpreting Narrowness” examines the facts about how urban populations live, work and play. In essence, it’s about understanding the dynamism of the people’s way of life, culture and relationships with small and narrow living spaces. That is to say, it decodes socioeconomic conditions and architectural language in a way that’s easy to understand, giving rise to exciting new ideas for urban planning and development in future.
Reinterpreting Narrowness
Reinterpreting Narrowness is a long-term project inspired by the appearance of an architectural style commonplace throughout Vietnam. Also known as the “Tube House”, it’s an urban row home plan designed to take up the full extent of an elongated rectangle. The purpose of the project is to encourage conversation among architects about the architectural style and urban landscapes that together have made Vietnam original and unique in its own special way.
The project had its beginnings in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022. Since then it has provided the stimulus for open discussions, workshops and debates attracting more than 20 groups of architects from across the country. The project is currently gradually transforming into a form of print media specialized in design innovations and ideas worth sharing.
Over the course of time, the conversations about the “Tube House” coalesced to form a meeting place where ideas about particular design were exchanged. Together they gave rise to stories about the evolution of contemporary architecture in Vietnam. In a nutshell, it’s about taking measures to deal with the problem of overcrowding and challenge of limited space. The intention is to encourage sustainable development and, at the same time, protect cultural heritage and lifestyles. Circles of architects have a role to play in improving the quality of life and ongoing interactions among people in the city.
Crafting a Sonic City (CASC)
Crafting a Sonic City is a multidisciplinary project designed to research the characteristics of sound in the city for the purpose of urban development and the conservation of features or qualities unique to an area, ultimately safeguarding its intangible cultural heritage. Unbeknownst to us, we have all grown familiar to hearing the usual sound in the neighborhood every day. This research project uses the sonic quality to record the story of a city in a factual and detailed way. In a few words, it’s about creating exciting new ideas for urban planning, using the sound as a means to promote an understanding in society.
The project culminated in a public display of handmade books about the characteristics of sound in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It happened as part of the Vietnam Festival of Creativity and Design 2022, featuring a multitude of neighborhood sounds recorded by architects and researchers. It provided a forum for an exchange of views with people in the community as well as the Society for the Blind.
The Gặp Series
The Gặp Series is a program dedicated to sharing ideas and stories obtained from visiting design studios and architectural practices across the country. Findings reached as a result of an inquiry are presented in a friendly atmosphere. It’s the intention of Officine Gặp to provide a meeting place where knowledge can be exchanged plus it provides the opportunity of meeting up with the people behind the success of research projects in Vietnam.
Action Research Turtle Lake
Action Research Turtle Lake is a workshop that took place over a period of two months. It was a forum that involved little children. The intention was to explore new possibilities in urban planning and development, especially ideas that we adults would never have thought possible. It invited children at the age 4 and 5 from Little Em’s Preschool to be part of the team.
In joining the research program, the children were encouraged to observe the happenings on the streets around Turtle Lake in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s an urban neighborhood characterized by busy movement and activity, traffic congestions and places where people congregate to eat and drink together.
The children participated in surveying the area; taking photographs, drawing pictures, and talking with locals about things that happened. Officine Gặp designed activities that were easy for the children to do in line with an approach to neighborhood building known as “Tactical Urbanism”.
A little bit about Officine Gặp
Yuri Frassi
Yuri Frassi is pursuing a doctorate at the School of Architecture and Urban Design, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia. His keen understanding of the fabric of urban society is manifested in his research into the socioeconomic conditions affecting people’s way of life in Ho Chi Minh City. His works investigate ongoing relationships and interactions between different narratives about cities and urbanism. Through conversation, complex ideas in architecture and urban design are reinterpreted in a way that’s easy to understand.
Afra Rebuscini
Afra Rebuscini is an architect and independent exhibition curator based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Her past experience and research centered around the law of urban planning and the dynamism or complex interplay of relationships between the community and the city. With an aptitude for art making, event organizing, and area knowledge, she has been able to conduct social experiments, ultimately leading to an understanding and civic participation in urban planning and development.
(Re)Thinking inside the Box is a series of discussion events focusing on the issues abovementioned. It’s all a matter of perspective about what can be done to address the problem of limited living space in the city. It’s a forum for people to explore new possibilities and look at the problem from within, thereby turning a challenge into a solution. Hence, the title is (Re)Thinking inside the Box, as an alternative to outside-the-box thinking.
/ Story & Images: Press Release / English version: Bob Pitakwong /
/ Photographs: Baan Lae Suan Press Room /
Sustainability Expo 2023, aka the largest sustainability exhibition in the ASEAN Region, will take place at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) from 28 September to 8 October. Occupying a massive 70,000 square meters of display spaces, the annual event is dedicated to helping create an ecological balance, conserving natural resources and ensuring the well-being of present and future generations.
Tongjai Thanachanan, Sustainability Expo director; Lars Svensson, chairman of the Sustainability Working Group, Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce; Pornphrom Vikitsreth, adviser to the governor of Bangkok; and Jeremiah Pitakwong, CEO Media & Event Business for Amarin Printing & Publishing Public Company Limited at a press conference of SX2023.
Codenamed SX2023, it’s the fourth edition of the show and a collaboration among five leading enterprises famous for supporting sustainable development efforts. They are the Frasers Property Co, Ltd; the PTT Global Chemical Public Co, Ltd(GC); the SCG Public Co, Ltd; the Thai Beverage Public Co, Ltd; and the Thai Union Group Public Co, Ltd.
This year’s Sustainability Exposition is on the theme of Sufficiency for Sustainability. Its front-and-center concern is the actual application of an idea of being adequate and sufficient for the benefit of the public as initiated by His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn. The concept is in turn rooted in Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), a strategy-driven plan for self-sufficient living conceived by his predecessor, the late His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Such is the concept that inspires us with the vision of a sustainable future for all. Likewise, this sustainability exhibition is created with Thailand’s national policy objectives and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) in mind.
For this reason, Sustainability Expo 2023 is dedicated to helping convert a great idea into a reality through a platform for cooperation, an effort guided by the “Good Balance, Better World” concept.
To increase enthusiasm and support among the public, SX2023 has assembled teams of experts with authoritative knowledge of sustainable development from various projects, plus some of the most interesting technology trends and innovations. It is hoped that active public participation in this matter will contribute to reducing human impacts on the environment in the long term.
And by popular demand, there will be plenty of workshops to attract green thinkers, environmental change-makers and do-it-yourselfers, not to mention activities aimed at developing better understanding of the needs and benefits of sustainable development.
Hence, an army of 300 experts from across the globe are participating, plus exhibitions by more than 500 sustainable development-related corporations both at home and abroad.
To make things easier for our audiences, Sustainability Expo 2023 is divided into the following zones.
The Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) Inspiration Zone
Discover the true meaning of Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) through a series of immersive multimedia presentations. It’s a nice little collab among the artists from the Bangkok Art Biennale who understand how nature sustains life on Earth.
Plus, there’s a show by the so-called Duck Unit group who is specialized in contemporary light and sound performances. And don’t miss out on an amazing exhibition of Earth images by NAT GEO.
There are plenty of facts and events waiting to be discovered for those interested in creating an ecological balance, sustainable development, and a better world for current and future generations.
Better Me Zone
It’s a show about perspective shifts, whereby people of different ages can live happily together. Discover tips for healthy living at the Good Health and Well Being Indoor Park.
It’s presented on the theme of “Together we can restore the world,” an update on growing trends that positively affects physical and mental health.
Find innovative health care products, apps and AI’s that can meaningfully improve people’s lives regardless of age. There’s plenty of useful tips for eating right, retirement planning, and life-long learning – the ongoing self-motivated pursuit of knowledge.
Better Living Zone
This part of SX2023 presents past achievements and current work undertaken by various sustainable development projects. They include environmental improvement models and sustainable ideas for businesses known collectively as the Circular Economy.
It’s an environmentally friendly way to reuse, recycle and regenerate materials in a bid to reduce waste. The effort is being implemented via four core activities namely, water stewardship, decarbonization, biodiversity, and waste management.
Better Community Zone
Here’s an exhibition about a unified society, one that flourishes on the principle of fair and equal treatment for all. It’s presented through a series of conversations among people working toward common goals in establishing normality in a diverse society.
The show is rich in exhibits about ideas for behavioral changes that benefit society as a whole. They include topics such as the importance of responsible actions, the preservation of cultural heritage and the ability to adapt to change that fits present circumstances and climates.
Food Festival
As the name suggests it’s a show for people who love to eat, featuring famous chefs and their claims to fame. This year’s Food Festival is on the theme of the “Thai Street Food Museum,” a collection of replicas of landmark eateries from across Bangkok, Phuket and other destinations, all in one place.
Enjoy good food and drink that’s good for you, for Thailand and for the world. It’s made possible by Zero-Waste Cooking, a sustainable approach to cooking more and wasting less.
The SX Marketplace
Last but not least, the SX Marketplace presents an impressive range of products by sustainable designer brands and environment-friendly goods. They include beautiful plants from “Garden and Farm,” a home decorating and lifestyle arm of Baan Lae Suan (Home and Garden) Magazine, plus community products from more than 200 retailers.
It’s also a place to shop around for craft goods that benefit communities and society. And while there, take the time to join a group conversation discussing business opportunities. Or just sit back and relax sipping coffee at Harvkind, a unique café setting located inside a sustainable furniture show.
That’s just a small part of the whole number of things happening at Sustainability Expo 2023. This year’s exhibition is on the theme of “Good Balance, Better World”.
Come join us at “Talk Stage,” a conversation event featuring distinguished guest speakers who gained experience through hands-on practice in the field of sustainable development. It’s the ideal place to stay up to date on growing trends.
Because sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, we look forward to seeing you all at Sustainability Expo (SX2023), which is happening from 29 September to 8 October at the Queen Sirsikit National Convention Center(QSNCC).
Together we can restore an ecological balance, conserve natural resources, and create a sustainable future for all. Mark your calendars for late September to early October!
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Turning Neglected Areas into Lush Nurturing Urban Spaces
Sustainable Living in a Narrow Space: Reinterpreting Narrowness along More Creative Lines
