Ken Chongsuwat Porftfolio 2015 by Ken Chongsuwat

Ken Chongsuwat selected works 2015

Ken Chongsuwat www.kenchongsuwat.com Born in New York City, Ken Chongsuwat graduated with a degree in architecture in 2011 and recently graduated with a professional degree in landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, receiving the Norman T. Newton award in 2015. As a designer Ken’s recent work focuses on the design of atmospheres, emerging technologies and future forecasting. Prior to joining the GSD he has worked at the landscape architecture studio SHMA, which work has been exhibited as part of the Thai Pavilion titled “Common Collage” at the Venice Biennale in 2012. Recently he has worked with Luis Callejas/LCLA as well as Chris Reed/STOSS on various research projects and exhibitions. He currently lives in Ingolstadt, Germany collaborating with Oficinaa on various design projects.

Academic 01 Orographic Hills 02 Terrestrial Analogues 03 Zurich Bathport 04 Franklin Park Professional 05 Mannahatta 06 Sea as Mine 07 Sari by Sansiri 08 Water City

01 Orographic Hills Landscape Urbanism in Jamaica Bay, NY

Collaborator : Peichen Hao / Advisor: David Mah & Chris Reed (STOSS) Published in Platform 7 (2015) & Representing Digital Landscapes (2014) Winner Ecological Community Competition (2014) Honorable Mention Aecom Urban SOS Design Competition (2014) Exhibited at Center for Architecture New York, NY (2014) & Harvard GSD (2014)

Project Statement

The project envisions the development of a novel landscape framework that allows urbanization and public spaces to be integrated seamlessly. The challenge of the project were questions of climate change and human occupation within these fluid territories. Landform operations act as the main structure system shaped to take advantage of the wind direction and moisture collection to produce microclimates within the site for suitable living conditions for habitants throughout the year.

Design

The site embodies a diverse and complex climate, the challenge was to design for suitable living conditions throughout the year within this complex site. Using studies on the wind direction and precipitation of the site, the project on a macro scale acts as a cooling mechanism for the region while on the micro scale the design promotes emerging micro climates within the site. To achieve this, a set of topographical moves are designed to form a field of angulating landforms that define the system. Using catalogs of wind and precipitation studies, the landform is designed and shaped to perform as moisture collectors that direct moisture along the valleys, creating a moist side and an opposite dry side. An effect is also known as orographic lifting. These landform consists of two main topographic designs. Large valleys that are used to recreate the orographic effect, while another field of smaller slopes are designed to direct urban runoff along the edge of south Brooklyn. The landforms itself are an extension of the current urban fabric of the city, which allows the channeling of urban runoff to be more effective while also weaving the landform into the existing neighborhood. The orographic effect informs activation zones and programming of the project. Residential developments are situated on the dry side, which in hot humid summer days will allow users to retreat to. The moist side will be composed of wetlands, landscapes and multiple recreational programs. This allows activation throughout the year as well as during the winter, where the landforms act as barriers from strong wind. Envisioning urban development that integrates seamlessly with the landscape, the architecture is carved into the landscape creating a unified landform. This allows less disruption to the wind paths as opposed to a typical high rise development as well as less additional infrastructure. The project embodies the concept of a hybrid between the softscape and hardscape, mixing and fusing materials that are soft and hard, natural and man made.

Site

The site (Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn, NY) embodies a diverse and complex climate, differences in latitude, character of the topography, and proximity to large bodies of water have pronounced effects on the climate in the site. Masses of cold, dry air frequently arrive from the northern interior site while, prevailing winds from the south and southwest transport warm, humid air, which has been conditioned by adjacent subtropical waters. These two air masses provide the dominant continental characteristics of the climate. The third great air mass flows inland from the North Atlantic Ocean and produces cool, cloudy, and damp weather conditions.

Phenomena

The project emphasizes on the phenomena of fog, clouds and particularly precipitation. Moisture for precipitation which is transported primarily Atlantic Ocean through circulation patterns. The site also has a fairly uniform distribution of precipitation during the year. There are no distinctly dry or wet seasons, which are regularly repeated on an annual basis. Orographic hills introduces a new understanding on how landscapes can act as a framework for urban development. How we can see landscape/architecture as a new form of unified urbanism. Providing a city that can be activated 365 days a year within this new development.

37°C + / 60% RH Hot + Dry Air Layer

00% RH

18°C / 40% RH

Warm + Humid Air Layer A floating cloud inside an enclosed environment – a cloudscape – can be accomplished by adding water drops into a layer of air saturated with water vapor. In order to keep this cloud layer floating it is essential to have a dry and cooler layer with a higher density below and a dry and hot layer with a lower density above. The highand low-density layers prevent the cloud layer from moving up or down.In addition it is essential to avoid all types of turbulence. Just a few people running in a circle create a tiny tornado which is strong enough to pull the cloud into the bottom layer.

Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation. Moisture can evaporate into warmer air than cooler air. As temperature cools, not as much moisture has to be evaporated into the air to reach the saturation vapor pressure. As air cools, eventually the saturation vapor pressure will drop to the actual vapor pressure and the relative humidity will reach 100%. When this occurs clouds and precipitation can develop. It is common for an orographic lifting situation to produce cooler and damp weather especially if the air has to rise a significant vertical distance.

! va! oration or ! i! ing Fog Evaporation or mixed fog

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relativel! cooler and drier

com! ressed moist air cold moisture

warm

Advection Fog Advection Fog

air cold

cloud base

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fog moisture

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ground relativel! warmer

relativel! warmer

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Radiation FogFog Radiation relativel! cooler and drier

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fog

heat

ground

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Humidity – water vapor – is invisible. What we detect as a cloud are accumulated condensed water drops. In nature the condensation occurs when humid air moves into higher layers with a lower air temperature. Such a negative stratification is possible due to the decreased barometric air pressure – which is not conceivable indoors. A floating cloud inside an enclosed environment – a cloudscape – can be accomplished by adding water drops into a layer of air saturated with water vapor. In order to keep this cloud layer floating it is essential to have a dry and cooler layer with a higher density below and a dry and hot layer with a lower density above. The highand low-density layers prevent the cloud layer from moving up or down.In addition it is essential to avoid all types of turbulence. Just a few people running in a circle create a tiny tornado which is strong enough to pull the cloud into the bottom layer.

02 Terrestrial Analogues Design Fiction & Imagined Geographies

Advisor: Silvia Beneditto Graduating Thesis for Masters in Landscape Architecture Degree Published in Platform 8 & Landscape Archtecture Frontiers Magazine (2015) Thesis Statement Transpositions of landscapes have been present throughout history, from historical landscapes such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the contemporary English garden. The concept of re-creating landscapes has been a key design component for landscape architects for decades. This concept can be dated back to the history of taxonomy, the practice of defining groups on basis of shared characteristics. Institutions such as museums, botanical gardens and zoos have been historically significant in the collection and displaying of artifacts or objects in each fields respectively. The project explores the collection of landscapes in the form of a terrestrial analogue site, a typology in the realm of collecting and displaying in the public realm. The thesis proposes the design of landscapes, environments and atmospheres of a celestial body such as the Moon within the confinements of Earth. The site will be used in the frame of space exploration (training), research (education), and tourism to study the geological and biological processes observed on other planets to enhance the understanding of our own planet.

Terrestrial Analogues Terrestrial analogues can be defined as places on Earth that exhibit geologic or atmospheric characteristics which are close to those observed on other celestial bodies, to sites that are used for space mission simulations to test sampling or drilling equipment, space suits, or the performance of astronauts in reduced gravity. Some sites are therefore suited to test instruments for exobiological research or to train sampling procedures for field explorations. Other sites offer an extreme environment that can be used by astronauts to prepare for the difficulties in future space missions. A map of analogue sites on earth used by different space agencies is shown. (pg.26) Before NASA was able to land the Apollo crew on the moon, scientists had to rely on terrestrial analogues to conduct simulations. Apollo astronauts rehearsed and simulated every second of their mission on these analogues, from planting the flag indoors, outdoors, in space suits, underwater, in planes, in centrifuges, in pools, in the ocean. Astronauts were prepared for every contingency and trained for water planned landings as well as desert and jungle survival in case their capsule missed the ocean and hit land. (pg.29) They also studied geology, how to withstand g-forces, maneuver in low and zero gravity conditions, and how to drive rovers and land the lunar module, all of these were conducted on Earth on or in analogue sites . Today analogue sites play an important role for optimizing scientific and technological needs and exploration strategies in both robotic or manned missions to the Moon or Mars.

Flagstaff, Arizona From 1963 to 1973, a group of young geoscientists working for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Branch of Astrogeology in Flagstaff, played a major role in one of Mankind’s greatest achievements—the six Apollo expeditions to the Moon. The City of Flagstaff have long played a distinguished role in hosting the development of the relatively new science of “Astrogeology”—the geologic study of the Earth and other solid bodies in the Solar System. The geologist Eugene M. Shoemaker (1928- 1997), who coined the term “Astrogeology”, first established the U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeologic Studies Unit in Menlo Park, California, in 1960. By 1963, Shoemaker had moved the branch’s permanent headquarters to Flagstaff, Arizona. While in Flagstaff the branch played an integral part in NASA’s missions since 1950, through extensive mapping of extraterrestrial planets, working on all six missions to the Moon. Detailed mapping of the lunar surface have aided astronauts in discovering the best landing spots as well as in training. (Figure 1) Shoemaker strongly weighed the fact that Flagstaff had important attributes, it was centrally located near a number of natural landmarks which would be well-suited for training NASA’s astronauts in general geologic field procedures. The region also provided an unsurpassed firsthand study of landforms resulting from volcanism as well as impact cratering. The landmarks within easy reach of Flagstaff included Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, Hopi Buttes and the project’s site the Cinder Lakes. (pg.30) From the 1960s to 1970s, the Cinder Lakes played a large part in the Space Race, its volcanic terrain and geologic composition puts it near the center of the lunar training program for NASA’s Apollo Missions. The area, covered in basaltic cinders from a volcanic explosion that took place around 1064, its material characteristics are similar to that found on Mare Tranquillitatis, the chosen landing site for Apollo 11. Using satellite photographs of the selected area, engineers and scientists from the USGS’s Astrogeology division transformed the site into a re-creation of the Moon, blasting hundreds of different-sized craters in the earth to form the Cinder Lake Crater Field, forming an ideal training ground for astronauts,. As the Apollo program came to a close, astronauts and geologists eventually left the Cinder Lakes. The last training simulation took place at the site in 1972 with the crew of Apollo 17. The craters have since been seriously degraded by wind and human use, especially at Crater Field 2, now a popular destination for off-roaders and ATVs. (pg. 29)

Lunar Park Narrative, Horizons, and Atmospheres The culmination of research of maps, photographs, descriptions and the site visit led me to the idea of re-designing a terrestrial analogue site in Flagstaff, Arizona as a proving grounds for the post-apollo program that is accessible to the public, engaging the public through an open-air museum type park. A proposed narrative situates the project in a speculative future, a future just a little farther along than we are now, a fiction not to far from reality. Inspired by true events, the storyline envisions NASA being invested by the private sector, where post-Apollo missions to the moon will be developed hand in hand with the private sector. This need to expose the inner workings and development of what used to be a confidential program was the primary design factor for the thesis. Envisioning a project in which private operations (NASA research and training) would be accessible for the public to experience, “The Lunar Field” positions itself in the intersection of science, art, and landscape architecture. The project consists of lunar landscapes constructed to simulate the rugged terrain of the moon. (pg.32) The northern part of the site simulates the “near side” of the moon, marked by dark volcanic maria that fill between the bright ancient crustal highlands and prominent impact craters. (pg.32) While the southern part of the site simulates the far side of the moon with it’s rugged terrain with smaller but more abundant amount of impact craters. While the Moon can appear to have a very bright white surface, its surface is actually dark, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. In synchronization with the Moon the park will operate on a schedule that allows the terrain to be viewed during night times. This will allow a similar effect to be replicated within the park. Buzz Aldrin description of the Moon was one that influenced the project : “There’s a starkness.There’s a precision, and yet there’s a disorder. It’s the precision of dust and rocks and definitive horizon. The disappearing of the horizon, it is distinct. There’s no haze, no nothing obscuring it, and that makes distant objects appear clear, very clear. And then there’s the rock, and then there’s nothing. You look out and you see that. Whether you realize or note, you’re looking at the edge of a ball, and you’re on it.” One of the design challenges was how to embed the stations in a way that will not disrupt the continuos landscape, retaining the sense of a “no-place” and its distinct horizon.

Imagined Landscapes The site will be used in framing and displaying lunar landscapes. Historical artifacts such as lunar landers and objects left on the moon will be updated accordingly. (pg.29) Astronauts and scientist will be able to operate and simulate in this new terrain, designed to augment the lunar surface in conjunction to visitors coming to the site. Cuts and excavations will create stations pocketed within the craters that allow the infrastructure to be hidden forming an undisturbed, object-less terrain. These six stations provide visitors with viewing platforms that allow them to be hidden from the other users on the site. Framing the sky and the terrain users will be able to experience a lunar like experience during the night on days with a full moon. (pg.29) Simulations and routine fieldwork are among the tasks being performed on the landscape. Astronauts will be able to run lunar rover simulations and practice soil sampling techniques wearing replica space suits, while visitors will be able to observe the astronauts in action. The design of the project takes queues from John Dixon Hunt’s essays on triggers and prompts in design. By using a number of theatrical devices such as entry thresholds and liminality, the passage from outside to inside, dramatic frames and scenes, displacement and collage, inscription and markings. These precisely designed triggers and prompts are all concentrations of an effect that draw the visitor into another world, heightening the allure and distinctiveness of a special place. The visitor becomes as much a performer as viewer, more deeply engaged in participating in the theatricality of the lunar landscape. (Figure 10) My interest in design and research led me to embrace the emerging design disciplinary that emphasizes on “design narratives” and “research through design” as a technique for exploring the potential value of new design work within landscape architecture.

03 Zurich Bathport

Design for recreational park in Zurich Airport Advisor: Martin Rein-Cano (TOPOTEK) & Gareth Dohrety (GSD) Published in Platform 8 (2015) Exhibited at Harvard GSD & 40 Kirkland Gallery (2014)

At the crux of global social and cultural exchange airports are an essential infrastructure in our trans-national globalized society. Yet these modern nodes of dynamic social interaction are often banal zones of cookie cutter sameness. Disconnected from contextual reality, we hop around the globe from airport to airport and yet if never to exit would hardly be the wiser. Additionally, massive in size, modern airports have evolved to a scale of microcosmic mini cities. Yet unlike any good city, they fail to offer their inhabitants urban amenities in the form of dynamism, uniqueness, diversity and choice. Most certainly amenities in the form of open space are presently minimally existent. As essential locations of global movement, places of frequent visit, and as places of often colossal time consumption, airports fail to meet the standards of the modern user. The Zurich International Airport, the largest airport in Switzerland, offers an opportunity to reconsider the normative airport experience. Situated between the airport and adjacent growing cities in the Glattal region, sits a slice of open space. This patch of earth offers favorable possibilities to conceive a new typology of airport space and experience, an “airport park”. One can envision this space as an extension of the airport itself, developing a hybrid between airport culture and open space agenda. The central task of the studio is to develop this new park typology. To generate its form, typical notions of park need to be reformulated. The park is to be an integrated airport feature, an extension of the airport without a roof, another “room” in the system of rooms. Evolving from this unique situational and spatial circumstance studio participants will develop new uses, forms, programs and concepts that generate this unique landscape typology. The studio will expand the “airport park” notion further by exploring the possibilities of an airport to take a central role in urban development, overcoming airport tendencies of seclusion and segregation and instead weaving it as a fundamental axis within the urban fabric. Encircled by growing towns, particularly the town of Kloten, the Zurich Airport is a key feature in the development of the Glattal region. As were the 19th century main train stations, can the airport be understood as the new starting point of urban development? Serving as a gateway, if the “airport park” caters to the needs of both airport passengers and residents in nearby communities, might the park be a tool to mediate the disassociation between the airport and its adjacent cities?

04 Franklin Park Snow haven in Boston, MA

Advisor: Luis Callejas Honorable Mention 2013 Coldscapes Competition (2013)

Winter accounts for 5 months of the whole year in Boston. Much of the field of landscape architecture focus on parks with image that are sunny, bright, and fun. I wanted to focus on those five months, but to also not neglect the common problems that occur in the park in the summer as well. The intention is to redsign the park as a park that could be used all year round. As we experienced hands on the site that winter and summer franklin park is alot different. The real magic of snow is that its capable of quickly, radically and ephemerally transform a landscapes visual appearance. In a relative short time snow will melt and then turn into to the landscape we are all accustomed too. Kind of like a stage backdrop. So the management of snow and studying how it naturally transforms into water and evaporates back into the air is an interest to me. Prior to this project I was interested in atmospheric conditions and how we can control these conditions through manipulation of the ground, water, and technology and infrastructure. Boston dumps 500,000 tons of snow into a vacant dump spot each winter. This winter storm was so bad it had to hire 500 extra bulldozers from an outsource. On boulevards or highways winging back is done, which consists of pushing the snow banks further from the road. The most expensive option, but necessary when there are no nearby places to dump the snow, is to haul it away. This is most often done by large self propelled snowblowers that gather the piles of snow at the side of the road and load it into dump trucks. The snow is then dumped on the outskirts of town, or in a nearby lake, river or harbor. As a prototype, this project seeks to transform standard snow plowing practices into creative tools for generating new landscapes. The design artistically exploits the spatial conditions defined by these typically overlooked snow mounds and exposes the hidden potentials of snow removal as a winter practice that can positively transform public space. Most architects and urban planners only consider the snow in terms of practical concerns, such as safety or energy efficiency. Winter is perceived as a temporary season, while summer is portrayed as an everlasting condition. It has been said that we live in a permanent “summer mindset.” Lawn is an urban material, while snow is not. In contrast to summer’s green spaces, this project demonstrates the value of winter’s white spaces. In the winter season, Olmsted’s Blank Snow, is a ‘whitesward’ exposing how standard snow plowing practices need to be considered beyond mere practical needs. This winter landscape shall thus be understood as a snow observation ground to encourage people to consider and appreciate the snow and its accumulation from a different perspective, enabling them to reflect on how the snow can positively alter a city’s public spaces.

05 Mannahatta

Re-thinking Manhattan’s 1811 Grid Team : David Mah, Peichen Hao, Yujun Yin, Yue Shi, Yingjia Gong

Exhibited Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York (Past and Present Futures exhibition) (2014) Published by Farshid Moussavi, Functionlab (2014)

The model of urbanization exemplified in Manhattan’s 1811 Commissioner’s grid resonates with a more general categorization of nineteenth century urban organizations that operate through a process of optimization and regulation. Typically associated with this category of urbanization is the synthesis of particular urban functions into replicable standards, producing a model for urbanization that enforces an assumed formal efficiency and archetype over the particularities of a territory. Manhattan’s urbanization could very well have taken a different approach, where a predecessor to the definitive 1811 plan, Mangin and Goerck’s 1801 plan for Manhattan suggests a different sensibility towards urbanization. A sensibility that appropriates and studies existing or given conditions as the framework for its definition. Rather than an engineered exercise in optimization based on ideal efficiencies, Manhattan’s urbanization may have evolved as a negotiation with and adaptation to the existing. Through the analysis and reading of the site in its pre development state as recorded in the 1865 Viele map, the following series of speculative drawings and imagery riff off the hypothetical narrative of an alternative Manhattan that emerges and evolves out of triggers both embedded and latent within the site. Topography as well as hydrological processes offer some of the initiating patterns that reorient the simplicity of the cadastral and infrastructural grid into a highly differentiated framework for urban growth. The Commissioner’s grid’s relative neutrality and standardization offers a model for adaptability that benefits from redundancy as well as a rudimentary formalism that supports the easy replication and repurposing of city blocks. Our speculative adapted Manhattan, on the other hand, presents an intricate ecology that invites its colonizers to identify their respective niches within its elaborate network. The formation of an infrastructural network is developed by adapting and reorienting the vectors of movement to negotiate its swelling geomorphology and to cultivate the island’s surface hydrology. This reorients the development of the bundled infrastructural and cadastral grid from the actualization of a standard idealized functionality to the possibility of an organization that materializes from the function of adaptation. The resulting performance or functioning of this emergent organization as a plane for colonization no longer results from assumptions of linear relationships between form and its subsequent function but is a by product. It presents a conundrum in a number of parallel functional values that are often mistaken as mutually interdependent and interchangeable. The speculative re-imagination of an adapted Manhattan invites a split between these often bundled understandings of function.

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06 Sea as Mine A Video-Graphic Essay

Team: Hillary Archer, Ken Chongsuwat, Nina Phinouwong Advisor: Pierre Belanger Exhibited at Strelka Institure, Russia.

In a swarm of wells and pipelines, the North Sea’s identity is one of both sea and settlement. Given its extreme depths, the development of technology for energy structures is ceaseless. Sometimes 160 meters deep, oil platforms transcend into the abyss of substrata to exploit the wealth of energy found there and to share the wealth via umbilical connections to land. Liquid oil and natural gas are the North Sea’s prized commodities for the global cheap energy market. Disputes over the rights to extraction peaked during the late 1950s with the ratification of EEZs. A decade later the sea was partitioned into seven sectors along the median lines of bordering nations - solidifying the North Sea as territory. Further licensing amongst BP, Shell and other multinational corporations has catalyzed an area of influence that stretches far beyond the physical boundaries of the water body. Just below the stratosphere, contrails are a remnant registration of the oil outputs surfacing from over a hundred meters beneath the North Sea ocean bed. Within the same altitudinal strata, helicopters connect land to sea - populating oil platforms with temporal oil rig occupations. Onshore, refinery locations emerge as new ports - scattering along coastlines to feed energy production and distribution. As western Europe’s largest oil and natural gas supply, the North Sea functions as an upstream energy shed, fueling flows that expand the sea’s influence from land to atmosphere. Devoid of compaction, the fluid ground of the ocean informs an equally fluid realm for occupation. The North Sea’s rotational occupation characterizes it as not quite farm, not quite factory… not quite mine. Over 66,000 workers populate the North Sea each year to keep the oil platforms running, their transitory occupations become as consequential as the 185 million people that live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the sea. Oil platforms are built as mechanisms for stability, both physically and economically, yet their context is inherently unstable. Occupational hazards abound as the North Sea’s hostile climate perpetuates, if not exacerbates, risks. The accumulation of materials at these rig settlement clusters puts into question the impact of their obsolescence and decline alongside the world’s change in energy needs. Estimations project the North Sea’s expected lifespan to be between 20-30 years, implying almost half of its existing infrastructure will need to be decommissioned during the next 11 years. Material accumulation in the sea amounts up to 15,747,834 tones of steel and concrete, along with over 11,000 km of pipelines that permeate across the sea floor. If these rigs are thought of as an intricate web of installations, composed of individual units designed at different moments in time, a logistical challenge emerges as the removal of each unit has to work synergistically with the elaborate system in place. North Sea as mine. North Sea as settlement. North Sea as ground. 66

07 Sari by Sansiri Urban Roof Garden in Bangkok, TH Shma Landscape Architecture Project Manager, Designed in 2011 & Completed in 2013

Sari by Sansiri is a condominium project, developed by Sansiri, located at Soi Siri Wanit, Bang Chak, Phra Khanong, Bangkok 10260. Sansiri is also the developer behind HQ by Sansiri, Baan Siri 24 and Baan Siri Silom. Construction of Sari by Sansiri was completed in 2013. Condominium comprises of 2 buildings, having 8 floors and includes 192 units. Bright, vibrant, warm and welcoming, the Sari by Sansiri Condominium is designed as an oasis from Bangkok urban life. Located on Sukhumvit 64, this development of twin eight story buildings has been built to create shared community and an atmosphere designed for domestic happiness. When you move into Sari you won’t just be in the building, you’ll be part of the distinguished Sansiri family. Sansiri builds for people and they have created a place to live, dream, love, and aspire. Their distinctive architecture and expertly planned designs highlight The Sunny Side of Life with bright colors, light, and inspiring spaces that create a modern, special community and perfect urban home. The two buildings showcase 87 and 105 units respectively, for a total of 192 units. This manageable occupancy provides the perfect balance between community and closeness. The units themselves offer options of 1 Bedroom/1 Bathroom (33.5-48 sq m), or 2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom (57.50-77.00 sq m). Bright, vibrant, warm and welcoming, the Sari by Sansiri Condominium is designed as an oasis from Bangkok urban life. Located on Sukhumvit 64, this development of twin eight story buildings has been built to create shared community and an atmosphere designed for domestic happiness. When you move into Sari you won’t just be in the building, you’ll be part of the distinguished Sansiri family. Sansiri builds for people and they have created a place to live, dream, love, and aspire. Their distinctive architecture and expertly planned designs highlight The Sunny Side of Life with bright colors, light, and inspiring spaces that create a modern, special community and perfect urban home. The two buildings showcase 87 and 105 units respectively, for a total of 192 units. This manageable occupancy provides the perfect balance between community and closeness. The units themselves offer options of 1 Bedroom/1 Bathroom (33.5-48 sq m), or 2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom (57.50-77.00 sq m). Just walking into the breathtaking interior will let you know you’ve entered a new class of condo. The sweeping lobby has a high ceiling that extends two floors. Gorgeous modern art cascades from on high, splashed in bright lights for the cosmopolitan touch. Marble floors and glossed black tables provide understated elegance and our distinctive collection of tasteful modern art is shelved and showcased for the feel of familiar elegance that is distinctly Sansiri. Your guests will be glad to recline in modern, leather chairs that overlook a broad balcony, amidst the subdued lighting of the tranquil lobby. Mailboxes are positioned in the lobby to avoid crowding, and sunlight from large windows lights the entire lobby area with a glisten of welcoming charm.

08 Water City

Ayutthaya 2050 Design Projection Shma Landscape Architecutre Exhibited at Assosiaction of Siamese Architects Expo (2012)

Project Statement Architects: Shma Location: Ayutthaya, Lower Chao Phraya basin plain, Thailand Use: Design solution for new development water city in Ayutthaya area Site Area: 2556.64 sq.km Period of Design: 2011-2012 Design Projection: 2050 As a part of the exhibition “Water Brick” held by the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA) in The Architect’12 Expo this last April, Shma shared with us their Water City proposal. Their visionary project focused on a response to the severe flood that inundated most of central plain of Thailand in 2011. They focused on Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand and the UNESCO’s World Heritage, in the project named “2050 Ultra Flood Plain”. More images and architects’ description after the break. The goal of modern development has created a clear separation between agricultural and industrial activities, between human and nature, between fluid and solid territories, which become a threat to human living. As we move forwards and slowly detach from nature, we neglect the power of it and forget how we once live with it. Ayutthaya is the city which illustrates such on-going situation clearly, from the day when water was city’s breath to the day when water become city’s catastrophe to local economy, society and environment. In planning for the prospect Ayutthaya we shall try to understand the formation of crisis, in order to determine the new balance between water, Ayutthaya living and Chao Phraya river basin. Back in the 1350s, Ayutthaya was the capital city of Thailand and truly called the water city. Since the beginning of the era Ayutthaya always flood during the rainy season. People learn to live and adapt with the water. The benefits of the water cause people to change the way they live including their economic and cultural activities to connect with the water.

1967 : Flood blocking city The evolution of the city cause Ayutthaya to developed in the wrong direction. The influence of green revolution in 1967 (which allow farmer to use irrigation instead of natural water source) and economic development direction caused the development that set Ayutthayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fluid and solid territories apart. 2011 SHIFT : Flood Choke City We have witnessed 36,000 million cu.m. of water surge into the lower Chao Phraya Flood Plain and damage Ayutthaya tremendously beyond the historical records, especially for the unplanned settlement in urban area and industrial estates that were built in water way. The damage cost 1.2 billion baht with more than 200,000 lives unemployed. Ironically, agricultural land or natural water detention area could not take in water as they were still harvesting. This year flood surely triggered Thai society to revise our urban planning, economic production activities and our way of living to suitably fit with the nature. 2050 Between people and water Flood as Natural Capital The main idea is to look at nature not just a resource but a natural capital that needs to be maintained as much as physical or human capital. In the context of Ayutthaya, we need to look at the abundance of water not a threat but an economic opportunity. Design : Agricultural land are developed into 5 roles following: 1. Agriculture + Water Infrastructure: Water detention reservoirs, the agricultural and management of His Majesty the King with the ratio of 30:30:30:10 (Rice field:Plant:Water Infrastructure:Settlement) will serve as effective tools to store large amount of water in flood season for consumption in the dry season. Agricultural area can be turned into large Water detention areas by simply increasing the height of the existing polder. When raised, these ridges can help the flood plain to hold more of water in 200 years amount. Each pixel of land has drain channel which bio-filtrates this water before it is released to the river. 2. Agriculture + Food: In order to convert agricultural land into water detention area during the flood season, farming practice has to be adjusted. The current practice of In-Season Rice Field should be no longer encouraged since this method has an overlap season with the flood. During the flood season, the land are still being use to grow rice, thus, cannot be used to store water. On the other hand, another method of farming called Double-Cropped Field will leave these lands open for water detention.

3. Agriculture + Energy & Waste Exchange: Organic waste of agricultural lands in Ayutthaya is capable for creating electricity for the local area by Gasification process that will convert waste into electricity without releasing any CO2(research in biomass). Electricity generated is sufficient to be used by everyone and even left over for trade. The waste from urban area can composting and transform into fertilizer. Recycled waste from factories can be used to build polder in agricultural area, by Landfill. These exchanges of benefits will strengthen the relationship between agricultural and industrial sectors. 4. Agriculture + Industry: Creating an economic corridor connecting North to South, Dwai(Myanma) to Kanchanaburi(Thailand) and Bangkok to Ho Chi Min City(Vietnam). The building of a high-speed train will convert Ayutthaya into a logistic hub of the region. Ayutthaya will see influx of goods, labor, investment, and other economic activities. This is equipped the town with an ability to increase its agriculture productivity. Cheap agriculture products can be import from the neighboring countries and to be manufactured, processed, and valueadded with more material variety. 5. Agriculture + Tourism: The high-speed train and the forming of AEC will bring tourists into the city. At the same time, Ayutthaya still preserve its famous world heritage sites of the ancient city and distribute visitors to surrounding area outside â&#x20AC;&#x153;old townâ&#x20AC;? The new tourism development must consider values of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agricultural tradition, local environment, and technology. Moreover flooding can create a water based activity and attraction during 4 month floating tent time.