webfact Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 Good architecture celebrates and enriches the neighbourhood By SOMLUCK SRIMALEE THE NATION The Wine Ayutthaya project, Ayutthaya province WHEN designing a building, it must be ensured that is a part of the community and environment. This is the way to improve the quality of life of people who reside around the building, Boonserm Premthada, a lecturer in the Department of Interior Architecture at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Architecture, said in a recent interview with The Nation. Boonserm, 52, won the Culture Ministry-sponsored Silpathorn Award for architecture this year and also holds the 2019 Royal Academy Dorfman Award for Architecture from the UK-based Royal Academy of Arts. Most architects and property developers are these days concerned about the environment and the community when designing a building, said Boonserm. And that is the right approach, he said, because a building can change a community for the better when the project is designed to match both the community and its environment. “When I think about how to design a [specific] building for a public area, I seek to learn what the community needs. Then I will set out to design a work of architecture that meets the functional requirements of those people, while also achieving an appealing design that encourages people to visit the building and the community. This can form part of the efforts to create a new economy for such communities,” Boonserm said. He pointed to the Elephant World project in Surin province, which was among the projects he presented to the Royal Academy of Arts in the UK. For that design, he spent a year first learning about the lifestyle of the people who live with the elephants, and then about elephant behaviour. Only then did he design the landscape and the building to serve both the lifestyle of the people who work with elephants and the lives of the elephants themselves. Meanwhile, he also designed the buildings around the project as a landmark for all tourists who visit. This was the way to advance ecotourism in the community, while also improving the quality of life for those who live around the community by creating jobs that would serve the tourists expected to visit the attraction when the project was completed. (This project remains under construction with an expected completion date in 2020.) “In my view, architecture has to be for the community’s benefit, especially for projects that can become an area landmark to boost tourism. This is the type of challenge that all architects should seek to rise to,” he said. Boonserm also designed the Ban Chang Town Hall in Ban Chang district of Rayong province. That project won a major Asia-wide honour as an Acknowledgement Prize at the Fifth LafargeHolcim Awards Asia-Pacific 2017. The building was envisaged as a town hall to be used by all members of the community to discuss issues of importance to them, such as the environment and community needs. Yet a building’s design has to be eye-catching enough to inspire visitors to make return trips, he said. “I believe that when we design a building in such a way to serve as an inspiration, then this creates a feeling in people that makes them want to keep coming back to it,” Boonserm said, adding that the town hall would become a local tourism landmark. Boonserm added that concept designs for a public area or a residential and commercial area at this time must change to be concerned foremost about the community and the environment. By designing the building through the lens of community and environment, the result will be a landmark for community and would also create relationships between the building owner and the people in the surrounding community. The result will be an improved quality of life and sustainable living for the long term. “When I design, I learn about the community, environment and culture around the location where the project will be built. Then I will design the project to serve that community, environment, and culture. The building will present the community identity and also tell something about the lives of the people around the building. My project is not only about the building, all of my building designs present the lives of the people around the project,” Boonserm said. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Real_Estate/30370432 -- © Copyright The Nation 2019-06-03 Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chazar Posted June 2, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted June 2, 2019 55 minutes ago, webfact said: Most architects and property developers are these days concerned about the environment and the community when designing a building, said Boonserm. Rubbish ,money first. Id pretty much bet most Thais couldn't care less about the architecture as long as its cheap. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilsonandson Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 A tour of the Wine Ayutthaya.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRToMRT Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 I do love a good bit of architecture. It always surprise me how Thailand has some absolutely beautiful buildings but the ugliest towns and villages I have seen anywhere. I cannot name one "beautiful" village or town in the whole country. Not one I would visit like I would say a village in europe, to admire its beauty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGW Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 5 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said: “They have no literature, no painting and only a very odd kind of music; their sculpture, ceramics and dancing are borrowed from others, and their architecture is monotonous and interior decoration hideous,” he recalled. “Nobody can deny that gambling and golf are the chief pleasures of the rich, and that licentiousness is the main pleasure of them all.” Colonization did have its advantages, decent architecture being one of them ???? We won't talk about about the slavery and theft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTuner Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 59 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said: “They have no literature, no painting and only a very odd kind of music; their sculpture, ceramics and dancing are borrowed from others, and their architecture is monotonous and interior decoration hideous,” he recalled. “Nobody can deny that gambling and golf are the chief pleasures of the rich, and that licentiousness is the main pleasure of them all.” - Sir Anthony Rumbold, British Ambassador to Thailand, who served in Bangkok from 1965-67. Seems they have kept their traditions well, his obsevations could have been done yesterday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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