The Modern Thai House Innovative Designs in Tropical Asia

232 Pages·2012·83.45 MB·English

by  Robert Powell

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THE MODERN
THAI
HOUSE
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THE MODERN
THAI
HOUSE
INNOVATIVE DESIGN IN TROPICAL ASIA
Robert Powell
Photography by Albert Lim KS
TUTTLE Publishing
Tokyo Rutland, Vermont Singapore
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CONTENTS
006 THE MODERN THAI HOUSE
016 AURAPIN HOUSE BOONLERT HEMVIJITRAPHAN
026 DKFF HOUSE SPACETIME ARCHITECTS
038 THREE PARALLEL HOUSE SPACETIME ARCHITECTS
048 BAAN TAAB 1 SRISAK PHATTANAWASIN
054 HARIRAK HOUSE BUNDIT KANISTHAKHON
062 HOUSE JANG STEFAN SCHLAU
068 TRANSVERSE CONVERGENCE HOUSE VASU VIRAJSILP AND BOONLERT DEEYUEN
076 BUNKER HOUSE VASU VIRAJSILP AND BOONLERT DEEYUEN
086 TROP V HOUSE PIRAST PACHARASWATE
094 OPEN HOUSE II PIRAST PACHARASWATE
100 SERENITY DUANGRIT BUNNAG
110 VILLA NOI DUANGRIT BUNNAG
120 LAEMSINGH VILLA NO. 1 ERNESTO BEDMAR
128 DAMA ZAMYA JOHN BULCOCK
138 YELLOW HOLE HOUSE KHWANCHAI SUTHAMSAO AND TANIT CHOOMSANG
146 BAAN JEW KHWANCHAI SUTHAMSAO AND TANIT CHOOMSANG
152 SOI WAT UMONG HOUSE AROON PURITAT IN ASSOCIATION WITH FERNLUND + LOGAN
160 CASA DE UMBRELLA SOMCHAI JONGSAENG
168 CAROL GRODZINS’ HOUSE PATTAWADEE ROOGROJDEE AND APICHAT SRIARUN
176 L71 HOUSE SURACHAI AKEKAPOBYOTIN AND JUTHATHIP TECHACHUMREON
184 ACHARAPAN HOUSE BOONLERT HEMVIJITRAPHAN
192 KOMKRIT HOUSE BOONLERT HEMVIJITRAPHAN
200 LAMPYRIS PONLAWAT BUASRI AND SONGSUDA ADHIBAI
210 THE OTHER RESIDENCE DUANGRIT BUNNAG
216 SUMET JUMSAI STUDIO SUMET JUMSAI
222 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY/ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY
224 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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THE
6
MODERN
THAI
HOUSE
Robert Powell
‘Modern architecture is a creation of the West. In a non-
Western context, it normally refl ects a direct intervention of
the Western powers through colonization. However, Thailand
is an exception. Thai people adopted and assimilated Modern
Architecture into their unique cultural tradition without being
directly colonized.’ Koompong Noobanjong1
A decade has elapsed since the publication of my fi rst book on houses
in Thailand, entitled The New Thai House,2 which was, arguably, the fi rst
publication in the English language to bring to the attention of an
international audience the ground-breaking residential designs of
an emerging generation of Thai architects, including Kanika R’kul
(Ratanapridakul), Duangrit Bunnag and Somchai Jongsaeng. An
informative essay in the book by Duangrit Bunnag, entitled ‘Co-Evolving
Heterogeneity’,3 provided the historical context to the imaginative
dwellings that were springing up in Thailand as the world entered a
new millennium.
Ten years later, with rapid globalization and the penetration of
digital technology into all aspects of life, the architectural landscape
in Southeast Asia is changing rapidly and it is an appropriate time to
assess the progress of the architects who I encountered in 2002 and, in
addition, to visit the work of others who have attracted attention in the
architectural media, among them Vasu Virajsilp and Boonlert Deeyuen
of VaSLab Architecture, Tanit Choomsang and Khwanchai Suthamsao
of Plankrich Architects and Boonlert Hemvijitraphan of Boon Design.
It was also an opportunity to renew a friendship with Dr Sumet Jumsai,
a polymath and one of Thailand’s most respected modern architects.
Now in his early seventies, Dr Jumsai devotes much of his productive
time to painting. I heard that he had designed and built an entrancing
Le Corbusier-inspired weekend studio in Sriracha, one hour south of
Left The modern
architectural language
of the Komkrit House,
Bangkok (page 192).
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