Conclusion

Many developing countries which have come into contact with the free trade system of a capitalist economy, have also engaged with multiple problems. Firstly, the over-dominant power of the modern trade system that dictates the entire agriculture supply chain and suppress the competitiveness of small-scale traders. Secondly, the rise of informal trading activities bringing about conflict between traders and the authorities, giving rise to the market architecture as a place to organise them, in which Bangkok could represent as a case study of such circumstance. These circumstances equally applied in the mid-nineteenth century period, when the city opened itself up to the international commercial system and markets were seen as a more civilised way of trading, in comparison to street trading. With this agenda in mind, the market architecture tends to operate under the paradigm of control, in order to enhance the vendors’ and the buyers’ activities. This thesis termed this type of architecture as a generic plan, in which the specificity of the vendors is not considered as a factor in the design standard. The study of everyday life of various type of vendors who sell different products is conducted in Bangkok. This valuable information is used to determine the design decision of both the stall itself and the overall system of the market. It also reveals the insufficiency of the current standard, which could be challenged: for example regarding the dimension, the zoning of wet and dry spaces and the flexibility of the space. Market hall architecture cannot be detached from the logistic system which works under the larger umbrella of the economic structure, favouring those dominant players who possess and therefore control capital. The proposal in the final chapter recognised the underprivileged groups under current cooperative solidarity network in the system and invite them as a potential user. It proposed 3 different types of market to fit within different urban forms, and in different communities. The thesis argued that the market can broaden its purpose to serve different users under the solidarity network as a form of communal infrastructure. The different typology of the social condenser is meant to be a testing proposal, not as a solution of how the program could operate differently as respond to a different context and urban fabric. The strategy of the void between each program is the key to avoid disturbance happen from a different activity that takes place in the same area. The design would be a part of a discussion between the cooperative, the community, and the public institution. However, to realize the project it should step forward in discussing the amendment of the legal framework according to cooperative responsibility. It is crucial to offer for the cooperative to be self-govern to be able to initiate the solidarity economy and the project.

Some further question could be raised involving this topic of market architecture for the solidarity network, that the protocol of negotiation between each group could take place and become a main source of data that drive the design. Different organization which could be invited that would be out of the scope of this dissertation, but could be a complementary to the project, for example, a public organization such as school, vocational training, or religious institution who could collaborate and manage to organized some activities in the space. Moreover, questions of location are also relevant to the project, as the project is socially rooted with its context, in this case Klong Jan community, a completely distinct discussion could happen in a different site with a different social group.

Although this proposal is strategically placed in the context of Bangkok, the problem of the discrepancy between small-local and large-global traders and the problem of the deficient market standard could also be relevant to many other contexts, since these problems are mainly tied to the boost of global capitalist market systems in the past two centuries. The strategy could be adjusted to fit with the local context, in terms of typological transformation, structural technology, social diagrams, legal framework and, most importantly, monetary funding routes. It is explicit in the proposal itself that the typological transformation of the market fundamentally raises the question of who has the power of the production of the space, and who is it for? Then, what is a type of space that could properly respond to these users, as a space of negotiation, a space where different lives could mutually take place and benefit each other?