a manifesto. (of a non-political kind.)
A city. Another city. Different, but still so busy, so wonderful, so alike. Let this be a study of difference, of contrast. A celebration of what we do and do not share.
one.
we arrive. to a nice, nice airport.
exposed concrete, frosted glass. grey and grey.
there were also friendly looking angels to welcome us. smiling fangs and green faces and all. rather charming.
outside we experience the magnificence of the exterior space. we were only on the ground floor, and the ceiling rose high. like a large chasm, built to let visitors experience and feel its vastness, between the accessing roads and the structure itself.
over all the structure is one of the examples of form following function in Bangkok.
exposed concrete, frosted glass. grey and grey.
there were also friendly looking angels to welcome us. smiling fangs and green faces and all. rather charming.
outside we experience the magnificence of the exterior space. we were only on the ground floor, and the ceiling rose high. like a large chasm, built to let visitors experience and feel its vastness, between the accessing roads and the structure itself.
over all the structure is one of the examples of form following function in Bangkok.
two.
the beginning of our exploration. and introduction to Thailand's cruel heat. We visit chatuchak in the morning, and then spend half the day wandering around, looking for H1. These two activities in themselves are enough to make anyone exhausted.
the BTS. Bangkok's very own skytrain. we use it to get to the market. it's new, obviously, in comparison to the rest of the buildings in the city. a pretty concrete snake worming through the peeling paint and rusting grilles. the stations' forms clearly follow the function, and joints and materials mostly exposed.
chatuchak. a place of such intense human traffic, a stall or two in every possible cranny. it seems like a life support of Bangkok, with the number of thais there, selling their wares, and the tourists and locals buying them. it's old, no doubt, the weariness of the umbrellas and tents sagging, the stifling inner spaces and worn corridors dirt streaked. and yet. it thrives.
along the street we see how the buildings have aged. and how the streets themselves have aged also. i wouldn't say that it is depressing, but it is surely quite dreary. the style of buildings are definitely different from those in Singapore though. like they are still exploring how concrete can be shaped, in curves and what not. with ornamented grilles and gates.
we reached H!, after much effort, and stepped into a place of simplicity and flat planes. so separate from the streets outside, well kept, beautifully arranged. inside we could be anywhere, singapore, germany, america. so it was, inside.
and then it was back to the hotel.
then it was night.
a look at their skywalk, which leads underneath the bts skytrain. the leveling of traffic, train over human over road vehicles. like a heirachy of sorts.
the city is still busy.
the BTS. Bangkok's very own skytrain. we use it to get to the market. it's new, obviously, in comparison to the rest of the buildings in the city. a pretty concrete snake worming through the peeling paint and rusting grilles. the stations' forms clearly follow the function, and joints and materials mostly exposed.
chatuchak. a place of such intense human traffic, a stall or two in every possible cranny. it seems like a life support of Bangkok, with the number of thais there, selling their wares, and the tourists and locals buying them. it's old, no doubt, the weariness of the umbrellas and tents sagging, the stifling inner spaces and worn corridors dirt streaked. and yet. it thrives.
along the street we see how the buildings have aged. and how the streets themselves have aged also. i wouldn't say that it is depressing, but it is surely quite dreary. the style of buildings are definitely different from those in Singapore though. like they are still exploring how concrete can be shaped, in curves and what not. with ornamented grilles and gates.
we reached H!, after much effort, and stepped into a place of simplicity and flat planes. so separate from the streets outside, well kept, beautifully arranged. inside we could be anywhere, singapore, germany, america. so it was, inside.
and then it was back to the hotel.
then it was night.
a look at their skywalk, which leads underneath the bts skytrain. the leveling of traffic, train over human over road vehicles. like a heirachy of sorts.
the city is still busy.
three.
we get carted around for the first half of the day. fun.
temple of the dawn.
magnificent.
to take into account how the builders make you look up, to see their towers flush against the sky.
the blue is so stark against them, it is BREATH-TAKING. the sense of space is just, unexplainably expansive. Especially at the base of the main structure itself.
in the compound you forget that you're in a city of skyscrapers and towers. all you see is the sky, and the towers of course. the towers. they go way up high.
down the chao praya river. the boat lulls you to sleep, then some water splashes and jolts you. it's quite rude. anyhow. houses line up down the bank, slanting on stilts, constructed with corrugated metal (zinc?) sheets and wood. i can't decide if these are slumps or not. despite their run down condition the houses are neatly arranged, one next to the other. some have courtyards facing the water, their gardens of pots of flowers giving the overall scene some badly needed colour.
the grand palace. and how could it not come with its own temple. i suppose that would be a Thai's ultimate luxury. Or a Buddhist's, at least. which most Thai people are. but, whatever.
walls here tell a story, a myth. every bit of them un-spared from the paint brush of the past. such detail.
the buildings within the compound are of traditional thai architecture. no nails or screws and all. jigsaw fits of wood. here the beams are painted, little inside is left unadorned.
like the temple of dawn this place brings one back to an old world of carved temple walls and golden tiled structures, where worship was put into workmanship, worship of their Buddha and their king. if one can ignore the snap-happy tourists, that is. which is really quite hard because there are hordes of them.
the last stop, Mr Jim Thompson's house. almost all the traditional forms of putting a thai house together are used here (i could hyperventilate), with some western concepts in the spatial composition.
a collection of techniques and methods used to create the typical thai house, all in Mr. Thompson's (not so) humble abode. a reminder of Luis Barragan. the use of a tradition and its methods of building, with a modern arrangement of space. this core idea, it seems, is one of the preserving factors in these two mens' legacies.
temple of the dawn.
magnificent.
to take into account how the builders make you look up, to see their towers flush against the sky.
the blue is so stark against them, it is BREATH-TAKING. the sense of space is just, unexplainably expansive. Especially at the base of the main structure itself.
in the compound you forget that you're in a city of skyscrapers and towers. all you see is the sky, and the towers of course. the towers. they go way up high.
down the chao praya river. the boat lulls you to sleep, then some water splashes and jolts you. it's quite rude. anyhow. houses line up down the bank, slanting on stilts, constructed with corrugated metal (zinc?) sheets and wood. i can't decide if these are slumps or not. despite their run down condition the houses are neatly arranged, one next to the other. some have courtyards facing the water, their gardens of pots of flowers giving the overall scene some badly needed colour.
the grand palace. and how could it not come with its own temple. i suppose that would be a Thai's ultimate luxury. Or a Buddhist's, at least. which most Thai people are. but, whatever.
walls here tell a story, a myth. every bit of them un-spared from the paint brush of the past. such detail.
the buildings within the compound are of traditional thai architecture. no nails or screws and all. jigsaw fits of wood. here the beams are painted, little inside is left unadorned.
like the temple of dawn this place brings one back to an old world of carved temple walls and golden tiled structures, where worship was put into workmanship, worship of their Buddha and their king. if one can ignore the snap-happy tourists, that is. which is really quite hard because there are hordes of them.
the last stop, Mr Jim Thompson's house. almost all the traditional forms of putting a thai house together are used here (i could hyperventilate), with some western concepts in the spatial composition.
a collection of techniques and methods used to create the typical thai house, all in Mr. Thompson's (not so) humble abode. a reminder of Luis Barragan. the use of a tradition and its methods of building, with a modern arrangement of space. this core idea, it seems, is one of the preserving factors in these two mens' legacies.
four.
the day we leave.
and so we ran from the hotel
to lumpini park
to the subway
to Hua Lamphong (woah)
to Baiyoke skytower (woahwoah)
to central world
to the hotel.
yes, quite a lot of running. and a few cabs.
so.
the very beautiful and very very spacious lumpini park.
you dont get this kinda space back home.
the subway, so like our own back in singapore. clean and efficient. maybe all designs for subway stations come from a book that everyone must follow. they use the same materials and lighting and flooring. hmm.
above ground. this is thailand.
this in singapore. (the little india station.)
enough said.
Hua Lamphong. Bangkok's main railroad station. Busy, bustling. This i've never seen. The structure is old, obviously something built with a form serving its function. still, there is something about it, something that says a lot about the capital it serves. Could be the unhygienic hawkers, the red plastic seats or the tranny's awful singing in the drama they are broadcasting on a gigantic screen. i cant decide. could be the way they play chinese new year music in March though. oh well.
the glass wall which separates the public space and trains are held up by steel beams. very industrial. the whole place could be easily mistaken as a warehouse, i think. a fancy warehouse.
Baiyoke. paying for a view. oh and what a view. those who chose networking as a topic loved the place.
i just enjoyed being so high above sea level.
a typical use of glass as walls, as in all buildings which reach soaring heights and want you to know. the glass walls here are screwed onto steel frames, and sealed with silicon.
the very predicatable highway network drawing, by yours truly. facing the east.
we leave and go to central world for a book run at kinokuniya. then of course, fly back to the hotel. and then we came back. yay.
and so we ran from the hotel
to lumpini park
to the subway
to Hua Lamphong (woah)
to Baiyoke skytower (woahwoah)
to central world
to the hotel.
yes, quite a lot of running. and a few cabs.
so.
the very beautiful and very very spacious lumpini park.
you dont get this kinda space back home.
the subway, so like our own back in singapore. clean and efficient. maybe all designs for subway stations come from a book that everyone must follow. they use the same materials and lighting and flooring. hmm.
above ground. this is thailand.
this in singapore. (the little india station.)
enough said.
Hua Lamphong. Bangkok's main railroad station. Busy, bustling. This i've never seen. The structure is old, obviously something built with a form serving its function. still, there is something about it, something that says a lot about the capital it serves. Could be the unhygienic hawkers, the red plastic seats or the tranny's awful singing in the drama they are broadcasting on a gigantic screen. i cant decide. could be the way they play chinese new year music in March though. oh well.
the glass wall which separates the public space and trains are held up by steel beams. very industrial. the whole place could be easily mistaken as a warehouse, i think. a fancy warehouse.
Baiyoke. paying for a view. oh and what a view. those who chose networking as a topic loved the place.
i just enjoyed being so high above sea level.
a typical use of glass as walls, as in all buildings which reach soaring heights and want you to know. the glass walls here are screwed onto steel frames, and sealed with silicon.
the very predicatable highway network drawing, by yours truly. facing the east.
we leave and go to central world for a book run at kinokuniya. then of course, fly back to the hotel. and then we came back. yay.
coming back.
i think stepping into bangkok is like being in singapore in the early 90s. albeit a singapore completely uninterested in maintaining hygiene levels, building safety regulations or washing. or repainting. or banning gay rights and questionable live performances.
which makes it quite fun, really.
on a (slightly) more serious note,
one sees singapore in that thriving, living place, full of its past, occupied by a language of her/his/its own. one sees singapore in the concrete of the city, the unwashed grime, the mega malls, the 3am traffic and flowers by the road. the Bangkok skytrain, with its generic and uncontextual station designs, so alike singapore's train stations, built for the sake of building.
the city shows its own understanding of urban planning, and who am i to judge if it's a good one or not. (though a pile of rubble directly opposite one of its most high end malls can't be helping those tourist numbers.) my evaluation of Bangkok has come to me as a whole of sorts, quite unfortunately. i had been drawn away from my focus by the bright lights and smog.
to put it across most simply the walls of Bangkok aren't really structurally different from those in singapore (compositionally though, with regards to concrete, i cannot be sure) except those in Jim Thompson's house. i realised how alike our cities were, how our concrete ceilings meet our concrete walls meet our concrete floors. the fitting together of Mr. Thompson's house had me overwhelmed. i know my documentation of that place is wholly inadequate. blame it on my hopeless sketching and prohibition of photographs.
in hasty conclusion, my hope for a study of differences in the area of my focus did not turn out quite so successful. i would say my study orientated towards how living here in singapore had any contrast to living there. the differences (in my opinion) lie in the Thai's pride and love for his culture, his religion, the way they live from day to day (transport, food, work-wise), how it seems so easy to be content, the way they allow their buildings to fall into rust and disrepair (very rustic) and. the cheap alcohol of course.
it is. exquisite.
bye.
which makes it quite fun, really.
on a (slightly) more serious note,
one sees singapore in that thriving, living place, full of its past, occupied by a language of her/his/its own. one sees singapore in the concrete of the city, the unwashed grime, the mega malls, the 3am traffic and flowers by the road. the Bangkok skytrain, with its generic and uncontextual station designs, so alike singapore's train stations, built for the sake of building.
the city shows its own understanding of urban planning, and who am i to judge if it's a good one or not. (though a pile of rubble directly opposite one of its most high end malls can't be helping those tourist numbers.) my evaluation of Bangkok has come to me as a whole of sorts, quite unfortunately. i had been drawn away from my focus by the bright lights and smog.
to put it across most simply the walls of Bangkok aren't really structurally different from those in singapore (compositionally though, with regards to concrete, i cannot be sure) except those in Jim Thompson's house. i realised how alike our cities were, how our concrete ceilings meet our concrete walls meet our concrete floors. the fitting together of Mr. Thompson's house had me overwhelmed. i know my documentation of that place is wholly inadequate. blame it on my hopeless sketching and prohibition of photographs.
in hasty conclusion, my hope for a study of differences in the area of my focus did not turn out quite so successful. i would say my study orientated towards how living here in singapore had any contrast to living there. the differences (in my opinion) lie in the Thai's pride and love for his culture, his religion, the way they live from day to day (transport, food, work-wise), how it seems so easy to be content, the way they allow their buildings to fall into rust and disrepair (very rustic) and. the cheap alcohol of course.
it is. exquisite.
bye.
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