between dichotomies : form, formless & space of social leisure
design research & studio projects on Bangkok and its leisure space predicaments

click here for BTWD publication on ISSUU

Exploratory design research in the dichotomy between form and formless. I.e., between architecture’s spatially deterministic, tabula rasa approach that focuses on the production of isolated concrete artefacts, and the contextualized approach that shifts its focus toward interactions with people, things, events, socioeconomic /cultural /political /environmental forces & prioritizes spatial experiences.

Bangkok serves as the venue of investigation into a particular area of predicament : banal, unimaginative provision of leisure activities. Bangkok offers limited options for leisure in public settings. As if the city adopts consumerism as a religion, and shopping its official pastime, air-conditioned mega-malls keep mushrooming. Museums and culturally-oriented spaces are few and far between. Public sport facilities are outdated and poorly maintained; their private counterparts guarded and gated.  These projects propose speculative forms of inventive, unconventional social leisure + architecture-scale interventions that aim to improve the quality of leisure activities in Bangkok.

host International Program in Design + Architecture (INDA), Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
conducted fall 2014
student team Ajana Rojthana, Grape Nalintragoon, Josephine Delignies, Lucie Rossignol, Panitnat Phuphatana, Pannathorn Eawsivigoon, Pichayut Sirawongprasert, Sutinee Prongmake, Thanyaporn Janma, Tirada Charanwong