THEMAGAZINE issue 17: COQUETTE

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Xxxxxx 03:15 a.m., 16-05-2014 (2014).

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Fortress of Solitude Having returned from a five-year, self-imposed retreat into privacy, Chatchai Puipia returns with a new gallery exhibition and online archive. by lary wallace n 2010, Chatchai Puipia deliberately sought and found a monk’s solitude for the creation of his art. This leave-taking was announced, writes the curator of his latest exhibition, “with no little degree of bravado,” but its sincerity should not be questioned for that.

Just because he was leaving the art world does not mean he was leaving the private world of his art. If anything, he could now engage that world with an even more fervent absorption. Chatchai marked the occasion of his disappearance by printing a collection of his work in the style of a Thai funeral book and titling it Chatchai is Dead. If Not, He Should Be. Much of the product of that renewed commitment is on display at 100 Tonson Gallery’s “Chatchai Puipia: Sites of Solitude: Still-Life, Self-Portraiture, and the Living Archive,” and will be until January 3rd of next year, when the exhibition completes its run. But that’s not the point of it. The point, writes curator Gregory Galligan in the monograph accompanying the exhibition, is to create “an ephemeral, ‘living archive,’ or time capsule, inserting itself, somewhat intrusively (the artist neither

Tools No. 1 (ca. 1986-87).

requested nor originally assented to its making) into Puipia’s ongoing artistic evolution since the publication of his artist’s book, and by selectively highlighting important conceptual and material sites in time, place, and historical context by featuring a stunning series of self-portraiture and stilllife painting dating from late 2013 to the present.”

That’s a big part of it, but there’s something else, too. There’s the creation of the gallery’s new digital archive, 100ArtistArchives, for which Chatchai’s work is serving as the inaugural entry.

100ArtistArchives was conceived by 100 Tonson in collaboration with Thai Art Archives “as a fundamentally educational and non-profit venture for Puipia’s (and future artists’) global following,” writes Galligan, “which now includes important regional and overseas collectors, and which has grown exponentially since the mid-

1990s.”

The mid-1990s is when Puipia first made his name in the art world, in Thailand and beyond. He did so with self-portraits based on the “Siamese Smile” that received attention in Bangkok, in Japan, and also in New York, where they were included in the Asia Society Museum’s “Traditions/Tensions: Contemporary Art in Asia.”

He’s been able to evolve from hyperrealism to expressionism, having received early inspiration from Willem de Kooning, for the fluent and fluid expressiveness of his brush, and from Robert Rauschenberg, for the way he would incorporate foreign objects into his so-called combine paintings. The forms Chatchai has worked with, predominantly, are self-portraiture and still-life – those are the domains he has most assiduously sought to settle.

The self-portraits on display in “Sites of Solitude” have been

painted in an industrial gray that somehow seems palpably metallic, and even though they consist of mere oil on canvas, these portraits persist in the memory’s eye as existing in three fully realised dimensions – they seem to magically emerge from their medium and transcend its physical reality, even after you have finished looking at them.

In all of these self-portraits, fluttering colourless butterflies predominate. This recurring motif – like most recurring motifs, in any medium – is not without meaning. There came a time, during his brief retirement, when Chatchai would return to his studio only to find the floor near the base of his easel littered with dead butterflies. They had died upon contact with the pigment’s toxins, and Chatchai, writes Galligan, “embraced the bittersweet irony...that a work he had conceived as an object of

beauty – like the work of nature flitting about it – could turn out to be, for some, a hazardous, if seductive spectacle.”

These particular self-portraits were completed in the months of Bangkok’s most violent recent political protests, and are intended to serve, in part, as an oblique commentary on those events, “the painter himself now receiving butterflies as though all of winged nature had been turned upside down in their [sic] own flight paths.”

The still-lifes, mostly botanical in subject, are precisely the opposite, rendered in a deliberately flat, almost drab style, the shadows rendered sometimes meticulously, sometimes haphazardly. Occasionally, as with the pricelessly titled Sunflowers, the entire arrangement is depicted in an angry, melancholic black, as if streaked and smudged with oil sludge.

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Still-Life Vase with 12 Sunflowers, 118 Years Later (2005).

Sunflowers is virtually identical to one called Still-Life Vase with 12 Sunflowers, 118 Years Later, and it's here that the earlier painting, too, reveals its origins as a commentary on Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers of 1888.

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to one called Still-Life Vase with 12 Sunflowers, 118 Years Later, and it’s here that the earlier painting, too, reveals its origins as a commentary on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers of 1888.

Galligan considers this “an exquisite essay on the almost spiritual qualities to be perceived in light and shadow, here conceptually reversed so that the subject in the foreground is cast in ebony obscurity, while the backdrop ecstatically asserts itself like a saint’s halo in a Byzantine icon.”

But Chatchai is up to something else, too, with these sunflowers.

At the time of their creation, van Gogh’s works were auctioning around the world at record prices.

Chatchai’s intention – one of his intentions – was to assert that historical context is really what gives a work of art its value, monetary and otherwise, and that that value cannot be determined without considering such factors.

It’s not just about the image depicted; its about the entire circumstances of its depiction.

The mixed-media assemblages employ many of the materials you would expect, from the banal (thread, wood) to the sacred (amulets, talismans). Then there are those you would never expect at all. There are chains and patterned fabrics and even, as in In Meditation, a large soup ladle, hanging centred amidst a wood arrangement replete with dangling candy-coloured strings. Flanking the large spoon on either side and

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The mixed-media assemblages employ many of the materials you would expect, from the banal (thread, wood) to the sacred (amulets, talismans). Then there are those you would never expect at all.

Cover of Chatchai is Dead. If Not, He Should Be. (2010).

In Meditation (1990).

lower down are two small serving spoons, angled and of a different colour.

This is most of what’s on display at the Tonson exhibition; there is more work on the website, and there will soon be more still, along with what Galligan promises will be “a comprehensive biography” that maps Chatchai’s artistic evolution, abstract to representational and all the places in between. But what’s here, on-site at “Sites of Solitude,” is more than enough to give one an impression of the artist, his presence and his sensibility. It’s an idiosyncratic and difficult-todefine concept for a gallery show, but that’s only consistent with the essence of the artist himself. It’s a brave concept, too, consisting as it does of what Galligan characterises as “an unexpected journey sideways into one’s personal history,” pulling us deeper into the enigma while making no dire attempt to resolve it.

The House on Sathorn's mustard-yellow facade.

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Heritage Reborn After years of standing empty, a bastion of period charm hemmed in by sleek towers has re-emerged as W Hotels’ The House on Sathorn.

The Magazine gets the exclusive first look. by top koaysomboon / photographs by chakkapan im-aree he Luang Sathorn Mansion has long been one of Bangkok’s most mysterious addresses. It seems to have always been there, people see it on their daily commute along Sathorn Road, but most of us know little about it's storied past or its practical function: that this neo-classical structure has housed a long history of rises and falls, involving royals, elites and diplomats (and secret agents, perhaps), and that, this year, it begins a new chapter as an evocative drink-and-dine destination, The House on Sathorn.

A brief history: Luang Sathorn Mansion was, during the reign of King Rama V, the residence of Luang Sathorn Rajayukta (Yom Posolyabutra), a Siamese tycoon. Luang Sathorn fashioned his home in the neo-classical style popular during that era. It was passed on to his son-in-law, whose rapid business expansion led to bankruptcy. As one of the repayment measures, he needed to sell this beautiful mansion to one of his creditors,

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The concept for the heritage site started with a desire to illuminate the splendour of Thai decorative sensibilities within the distinctively Western architecture of the century-old residence.

the Crown Property Bureau. During the reign of King Rama VI, his majesty allowed his closest privy councillor, Chao Phraya Ram Rakob, to use the mansion as Ram Kakob’s “entertainment complex.”

Later still, from 1924 to 1933, the mansion served as a luxury hotel named the Hotel Royal.

After the Second World War, the mansion was leased to the Soviet Union, becoming that nation’s embassy from 1948 to 1999. After the Russians vacated, the complex was abandoned for a few years until North Sathorn Realty acquired the rights from the Crown Property Bureau to develop that area into a high-end complex of residences (The Infinity), a hotel (W Hotel Bangkok), an office tower (Sathorn Square) and an entertainment

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complex (The House).

Built in 1890, the House on Sathorn is a three-storey building with beautiful neoclassical structures and details. The mansion complex consists of two parts: the front building, which can be seen from the street, and the larger, U-shaped rear building, which was constructed later and attached to the front building by two wings, creating an inner courtyard.

New York design firm Avroko is behind the renovations. “The concept for the heritage site started with a desire to illuminate the splendour of Thai decorative sensibilities within the distinctively Western architecture of the centuryold residence,” says William Harris of Avroko. The renovation also xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx passed before the (approving) eyes

of the Department of Fine Arts, as the building is registered as a structure of historic importance.

Its original colours of mustard walls, and teal doors and windows, stand as reminders of the mansion’s original beauty. The first floor of the front building is now home to a dining room on the left and a club lounge on the right, both nestled amidst the well-preserved structure: dark wood walls with handcrafted details, ornate Romanesque ceilings and columns, and numerous miniature sculptures of pigs, representing the original owner’s birth year. European classic leather furniture, Art Deco lamps, counter bars, LED lights and Tom Dixon candles were added to create a sophisticated atmosphere, day or night.

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The dining room where chef Fatih Tutak serves up his pan-Asian cuisine.

The Red Room on the upper floor, which will open to the public later this year.

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Heading the kitchen is The House on Sathorn’s culinary director, Turkish-born Fatih Tutak.

He honed his skills at Michelinstarred restaurants such as Noma in Copenhagen and Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo, and says his speciality is “Asiatique” creations made from the finest Asian produce and inspired by his journeys around the region.

The two chambers are divided by a hallway, with bas-relief art pieces inspired by the buckles of traditional Thai costumes adorning both walls.

This leads you to the inner courtyard, where guests will be able to enjoy afternoon tea beneath a hundredyear-old tree, while surrounded by the inner facades of the mansion’s rear building. This part of the complex, not yet open to the public, will contain a reception hall and suites for special occasions such as weddings.

Back to the front building, a floor-to-ceiling, fountain-like chandelier glitters at the end of the left hallway. Encircling the chandelier are stairs that lead up to lounge rooms with more privacy.

Avroko’s design of this floor is more daring, featuring interesting contrasts between Old World and New. The original structure is decorated with cutting-edge items like free-form chandeliers, marble countertops and huge, blood-red partitions that tower over the Edwardian furniture.

This upper floor also holds a surprise. One side of a long hallway seems like nothing more than a beautiful wall of crafted woodwork.

But behind the wall, a private room is concealed by a discreet, hardly noticeable door. “We can’t really tell you right now what this will be for,” is all W Bangkok’s communications manager will tell us. “Please hold your breath.”

And we have no choice but do so, because this upper floor will not open to the public until later this year, though the first floor of The House on Sathorn will start welcoming guests this month.

The front and rear buildings have different exterior colours.

The House on Sathorn W Hotel Bangkok 106 North Sathorn Road 02-344-4000.

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The Peace maker Don’t be fooled by the hard-man exterior; Vincent Van Duysen is Belgium's conjuror of calm. Sober yet spirited interiors. Serene homes and light-filled offices. Monumental tables. These are just some of the rigorous yet peaceful forms that this discreet architect and interior designer creates from his base in one of Europe’s most discreet cities. by max crosbie-jones / with thanks to b&b italia

Vincent and his two dachshunds at his Antwerp "sanctuary."

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espite being home to an inordinate amount of cuttingedge talent, including fashion mavericks such as Dries Van Noten and Raf Simons, Antwerp likes to keep a low profile. And the same is true of Vincent Van Duysen, one of this Medieval port city’s most talented residents. Born in 1962 in the Belgium town of Lokeren, this architect left for Milan in his early twenties, during “the peak of post-modernism,” but he came back, decamped to Antwerp and never left. “I was homesick,” he says of that time. “And I’ve always been an individualist.”

For Vincent, now 53, there was something too rat-racey about Milan. It wasn’t for him; Antwerp, with its more insular atmosphere conducive to the solitary and sustained pursuit of one’s craft, was. “I’ve always been a little bit off to the side, off track, doing my things in my own world,” he says, “and I just felt much more at ease here in my own country where there was less pressure. In Antwerp we work mostly as individuals and are less competitive, so I prefer to isolate myself and work from here.”

Like he and his adopted Cascade chandelier for Swarovski. city, Vincent’s constructions are also understated. Take his home in Antwerp’s city centre.

Dating back to the 17th century, it had, when he bought it in 1999, a lot of potential – a handsome white neo-classical 19th century facade, a huge black door and a private garden – but the interiors were crying out for renovation and restructuring.

And they were big. “In the beginning I thought this is too big.

I’m going to lose myself in this house,” he says. But after much intense work – one year of planning, two years of construction – he now calls it his sanctuary. “Each time when I’ve been travelling and come back home it’s like entering a temple,” he says. “All the stress falls off me and it's very contemplative.

It’s very calming.” He’s not wrong. Inside, natural light spills onto bone-coloured walls, wooden floors and the odd object or piece of furniture (old Iranian carpets, works of contemporary art, sofas by Axel Vervoordt, etc). Though he says it is more

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“anonymous” than his other projects, it’s unmistakably a Van Duysen space – tactile, alluring and balanced, its elements all complement and enjoy a natural conversation with one another. It hums with a diffuse sort of serenity – and demonstrates, like all his projects, that, as Chris Meplon puts it, “a room or building can still appeal to the senses without slanting walls or flowers.” he unschooled might be tempted to call Vincent a minimalist, but there are those who think purist better describes his approach. Alberto Campo Baeza, a Spanish architect who numbers among his champions (and there are many of them), sees Vincent’s work as being not part of the often cold and bloodless less-is-more tradition but the deeper, more-with-less tradition. He likens it to poetry – the memorable sort. “Good poetry, true poetry, is far from ‘literary minimalism’; it is the fascinating ability to choose just a few words that can take us to a place of sublime beauty, deeply moving our hearts and minds – like Shakespeare or St John of the Cross,” Alberto writes. “‘More with less’ architecture works in the same way. No more and no less, just enough; Van Duysen is no more and no less than a poet of contemporary architecture, and a good one.”

Though his eagerness to get across his point means that his sentences sometimes trail off or trip over one another, Vincent is also a good conversationalist. When I meet him in Milan, he talks openly and lucidly of his outlook and approach. That shaved head gives him an air of don't-mess-with-me gruffness, but a warmth radiates from behind those piercing eyes. And when, at one point, I ask what his two most precious objects are, he looks at me as if I’m mad, smiles and says: “My two dachshunds.” It is a tongue-in-cheek answer to a serious question, but a revealing one, as it suggests that he believes no

In Antwerp we work mostly as individuals and are less competitive, so I prefer to isolate myself and work from here.

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I’m an atypical architect, not a mathematical, thinking architect. I’m intuitive. I work with people and for people. more about the art of living,” he says. “I wanted to know how people live in their houses, what their needs are, and what they want from an architect.” ou know the piece of entertainment architecture that draws crowds? Most cities have one, maybe two: a contorted explosion of metal and glass, clamouring for attention and yearning for fame – one that appears to have forgotten its original purpose and beckons you to pull your camera out rather than walk inside. Well, that isn’t Vincent’s. His is the seemingly more anonymous building beside it, the silently sophisticated one that reveals itself slowly and only through direct interaction – exploration and experience.

Given his background in interior design, it’s not surprising that his buildings start from the inside and work their way out. They are silent, not loud. They are humanist, not grandiose or visionary.

Vincent is not interested in the next big thing, visual flourishes, or imposing his own ego or rules regardless of context or user, as some architects are. Channeling light, shadow, objects and materials, his sensuous compositions – for that is what they are – are resolutely personal. “I’m an atypical architect, not a mathematical, thinking architect,” he admits. “I’m intuitive. I work with people and for people.”

Tying all his work together is what he called in an interview with Julianne Moore (yes – the Oscar winning film star: she’s a big fan and a good friend), a “red thread.” “My work is very honest,” he says when I ask him to describe that red thread. “It’s very accessible and it’s definitely very human. It’s related to people and most of my work is kind of timeless. I also work a lot with natural materials, and add some referential touches that deal with memory or history – not just personal memory but also public.”

Photos by Juan Rodriquez.

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object is precious enough to deserve putting on a pedestal. This sentiment is consistent with his portfolio. Whether it’s his home or a private residence, objects in Vincent’s interiors are few and far between, appearing less important than his use of texture, light and natural materials. They are quiet, subtle enhancers of the atmosphere rather than showpieces that dominate it. As Ilse Crawford writes in Vincent Van Duysen – Complete Works, “For Van Dyusen, there is no need to clamour for attention with virtuoso shapes. Common to all of his designs is an aversion to ostentation; he has no interest in short-term visual effect.”

Vincent’s rejection of showy things seems a little strange given that he once worked for Ettore Sottsass and Aldo Cibic, two of the founders of influential 1980s design collective Memphis Group. In the eighties, these Milanese pioneers of post-modernism were known for turning out colourful and asymmetrical furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects – something Vincent resolutely isn’t known for. Still, he professes to admire their work.

“What I liked about them is The staircase at Vincent's home. the playfulness of working around primary forms that come from tribal art or cultures like India,” he says. “Obviously at that time it was all about patterns and flashy colours but at the core of their work was a kind of tradition and pureness.”

If not in Milan, then, where and when did his pared-down aesthetic come about? On returning to Antwerp in 1988 he worked for four years alongside the late Jean de Meulder, a classically-trained Belgium interior designer who strived to achieve “understated elegance and warmth” and avoided “bling bling.” This seems to have been the more formative experience. When he joined de Meulder he still felt he wasn’t ready to design a good interior or build his first house, he says, but doing so gave him the education he needed, not least a more emotional connection to his trade. “I wanted to know

The living room and hallway at Vincent's Antwerp home.

BS Residence in the Belgium province of West Flanders.

VM Residence on the outskirts of Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium.

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The texture and tactility of materials are also “super important,” as they add “an extra dimension” to his projects.

“My work at its pure essence is warm, it has a lot to do with tactility,” he says. “I’m always fascinated by how some materials can be treated and how beautiful it is when you bring them together in very unexpected ways to reinforce the idea and concept behind my projects.” The end goal, he says, is focussed, balanced, introverted spaces in which everything is beautifully lit but not overlit. “It’s about discovering and being constantly triggered by what you see,” he adds. “I’m trying to create emotion and soul – not only in my objects but also in my architectural work.”

It’s an end goal that has led to many beguiling outcomes: not just renovated houses and new buildings but also products such as his new Oskar table for B&B Italia (a monumental top of cathedral glass, oak or natural stone atop a steel frame and solid or lacquered timber legs). It has also garnered Vincent lots of acclaim. Ann Demeulemeester and Patrick Robyn: “Vincent’s work is human; it possesses many qualities that we value in Oskar table for B&B Italia. people. It is calm yet determined.

It is reliable yet surprising. It is sober yet spirited.” Spanish super-designer Patricia Urquiola: “I love Vincent’s work.

It leaves one off-centred. It’s unusual and has a sense of composition – far from coldness, excess, fashions, trends, and with a sense of tradition applied to modernity that I have only found in Japan; His qualities as an individual permeate his design and live in his architecture.”

The acclaim is not only hailing from within the industry. “He’s my absolute favourite designer,” gushed Julianne Moore, when they met each other for an interiew in her New York kitchen. “He’s been tremendously inspirational to me. I literally steal from him!”

This is not mere hot air from a home-decor dabbler; it turns out Moore knows her stuff. “I feel like you put the Belgium aesthetic through a modernist sieve,” she said during their exchange. This is

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a razor-sharp observation, given that Vincent’s frame of reference ranges from Le Corbusier to Hans van der Laan, the Benedictine monk behind Belgium’s Roosenberg Abbey, a modernist monastery that Vincent has cited as being hugely influential.

More importantly than all of this, the clients are lining up. His eponymous firm, which employs around 15 people, is currently working on about 20 projects, from residences in Paris, London, Beirut and New York to a 10,000 square metre office block in Riyadh and the design concept for Alexander Wang’s flagship London store. He’s especially excited about his first hotel, especially because it’s in Antwerp. “It’s in an old convent in the same area as one of Belgium’s most important restaurants, The Jane. It used to be a military hospital where nuns lived in a different cloister of the chapel, and we’re working on that part.

I’m very, very happy about it because I’ve been approached many times by international hoteliers from the states and it always scared me a little bit...I think by doing it in my own city, my own culture, I can really respect more what it’s been touched by and what it’s connected to. And there’s already so much going on in that cloister that belongs to my world. It’s the perfect match.”

Does he ever feel the pressure to perform or deliver the signature Van Duysen look? In a word, no. “I know myself and I know how to protect myself,” he says. He avoids the media, except when it’s to share his vision with people who admire his work. And, of course, meek old Antwerp keeps him grounded.

“We’re individualists here and we’re all different,” he says. “You can see it in the fashion people, the artists, painters, dancers, actors, architects...there is an enormous degree of talent and we’re all workers. We are really focussed and we love what we’re doing and we like to share it with people. But we’re all very humble. We’re very discreet and I think that makes us, Belgium, a little bit different.”

Vincent's qualities as an individual permeate his design and live in his architecture.

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wonder women Gone are the days when fashion was seen as a handicap for women in positions of influence. Instead of clothes being a distraction from a woman’s achievements, what women wear has become an embodiment of their voice, and, in some cases, has even helped them achieve their goals. For our Style issue, The Magazine salutes 25 notable women who have taken power dressing to another level. illustrations by terawat teankaprasith

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Sometime in September, Queen Elizabeth will become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. By that time, the 89-year old royal, who ascended to the throne in 1952, would have already occupied the throne for more than 63 years, surpassing the record set by her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Elizabeth II’s reign, unlike that of her namesake, is characterised by restraint and quiet benevolence.

The second Elizabeth has gained a reputation for her steadfast devotion to duty. In over 63 years, Elizabeth II has met seven popes, established friendships with world leaders (Nelson Mandela and George W. Bush included), managed to sign gay marriage and gender equality into U.K. law, and has earned the unwavering trust and loyalty of her constituents. Six decades have also witnessed the queen remaining loyal to a particular brand of style, one that combines the fuss-free primness expected of royalty with flashes of spirited cheek. For years, Elizabeth II’s daytime ensembles have consisted of single-breasted peacoats topped with jaunty hats in the exact same shade (and sometimes even in the same fabric). She wears them in dove-grey, sometimes in off-white, but mostly she likes them in bold colours — shocking pinks, brilliant aquas, vivid yellows – proving that even the world’s oldest monarch doesn’t have to be a victim to dated, starched-up fashions.

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ichelle Obama The world has not been this interested in the style of a First Lady of the United States since Jacqueline Kennedy. After stepping out onto the inaugural stage for the first time in 2008 in a stunning, white, asymmetric custom-made Jason Wu ball gown, the world knew right away that Michelle Obama was not only an intelligent and diligent role model for women; she had the makings of a fashion icon as well. Known for her all-American style (bright, colourful, and full of patterns) and knack for mixing and matching, Michelle Obama’s style, while bold and noticeable, remains down-to-earth. Her support of American brands has helped launch the careers of designers like Jason Wu, Isabel Toledo and even Thai-American Thakoon Panichgul. Despite her final term as First Lady ending in less than a year, Obama will definitely continue to turn heads with her sartorial elegance.

There’s a good reason Michelle Obama is known as the First Lady of Fashion.

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ngelina Jolie There has never been a Hollywood transformation quite as dramatic as Angelina Jolie’s. Starting her career as every inch the bad girl, Jolie once favoured gothic ensembles with lots of leather, wore a vial of blood around her neck and, at one point, tattooed the name of then-husband Billy Bob Thornton on her arm. All that seems negligible now. Fast-forward to the present day and Angelina Jolie is mother to a multi-cultural brood, one of the industry’s most dedicated humanitarians, one-half of Hollywood’s most celebrated power couple, the receiver of an honorary damehood from Queen Elizabeth, and with her recently publicised surgeries, has become a poster girl for cancer prevention. Her sense of style has also noticeably cleaned up; the leather trench coats and vampish makeup have been eschewed in favour of sleek, impeccably glamorous gowns and chic cocktail dresses. Her former self would have rolled its eyes at her wedding gown, a rather simple Versace silk dress topped by a floor-sweeping veil imprinted with childish doodles – supposedly customised for the star by her six kids.

Yes, Angie has come a long way, and there’s no reason for her — or anyone else — to look back.

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iuccia Prada Just like her brands, Miuccia Prada is full of surprises. The Iron Lady of Italian fashion loves to raise the bar, rolling out daring styles for both of her brands, Prada and its younger sister Miu Miu, and for her own wardrobe. The designer cleverly handpicks items from her runway collections to incorporate into personal ensembles that go from simple tops and knee-length skirts to more eclectic neon-coloured fringed skirts, geometric-print coats, candy-coloured fur and Chinese-inspired silky pant suits. “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world. Fashion is instant language,” she says. This daring vision is perhaps Prada’s secret to success although we personally think it’s her lack of solid fashion training (she holds a doctorate in political science) that allows her to think in limitless terms. “I thought fashion was stupid because I thought there were more intelligent and noble professions like politics, medicine or science,” she once said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “But I’ve recently re-evaluated my job. I’ve realized that fashion is a very powerful instrument that gives you access, lets you tap into people, allows you to transmit ideas and shape opinion.” Clearly, Prada constantly sharpens her instrument. And that’s why, after her nearly 40 years in the fashion business, we still love her surprises.

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llen DeGeneres It’s easy now to forget just how hard it was back then for Ellen Degeneres to come out of the closet. That was in 1997; no major television star had come forward to declare herself a lesbian before. Ellen was the first. Then she went on to become the first to play a lesbian character, the very role that had made her famous on her sitcom Ellen. But she’s since attested to having been “mired in depression” at the time, because of the public reception her disclosure received. Less than 10 years later she was hosting the Oscars – the first open lesbian to ever do so – and by then her daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, had made her a household presence for whom sexual orientation, in the public’s estimation, no longer mattered at all. She’s a vegan who advocates for animal rights, a practitioner and celebrant of transcendental meditation, and someone capable of following two U.S. presidents at a university commencement and, upon stepping to the podium in a bathrobe, reasoning, “They told me everyone would be wearing robes.”

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onia Gandhi

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Preferring a simple sari, traditional and unadorned, Sonia Gandhi has managed to become a fashion icon nevertheless, with the thoughtful discernment of her choices, always attuned to the traditions and sensibilities of whatever region of India she’s visiting. She has even felt obliged, recently, to wear fabrics from those areas of her adopted country particularly addled with poverty and violence, and her extensive, elaborate knowledge of textiles has assured the precision of her choices. This devotion to textiles came about only after she moved from her native Italy and married into the Gandhi family all those decades ago, acquiring the affinity from her mother-in-law. She began wearing large watches, too, just like Indira Gandhi used to. Many people believe such watches are only for men, but Sonia Gandhi knows better – Sonia Gandhi knows that the only thing worth wearing is the thing that feels right.

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ofia Coppola She’s the queen of off-beat cinema and purveyor of hauntingly memorable movie soundtracks. The indie filmmaker with the mainstream connections. The society heiress with the gallery cred. You can hate on Sofia Coppola all you want but it still doesn’t discredit the fact that she long ago emerged from the shadow of her father, director Francis Ford Coppola, and established herself as one of her generation’s most influential film directors and scriptwriters. To back up the claim, she’s got the Academy Award wins and nominations (youngest female director ever nominated for an Oscar), the undying gratitude of Scarlett Johansson (the then-unknown whom she cast as the peripatetic wife in Lost in Translation) and the collaborative stints with Dior and BFF Marc Jacobs. Not that Coppola is angling for blatant recognition. The 41-year old seems content to maintain her low-key indie reputation, even affecting an understated, albeit chic, sense of fashion to match: loosely-tailored separates, easy-wear shift dresses, barely any makeup, perfectly windswept hair that looks like it’s never met a blow dryer. Her style may never be glorified on a grand scale, just as her movies may never break box-office records, but this doesn’t seem to bother anyone who knows something good when they see it, least of all Sofia Coppola herself.

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They call her the Queen of the Court for the way she’s dominated it like no woman before. She’s won more tennis titles than any player in history, of any gender, and her four Olympic gold medals constitute a record shared only by her sister Venus. She shows up to dazzle with her play, but she also shows up to dazzle before the play has even begun. Like that time she showed up for the 2002 U.S. Open looking like she’d arrived for a Halloween party dressed as Catwoman, lycraed all the way out in Lane Bryant. Two years later, she showed up for the same tournament wearing a blue-jean skirt and knee-highs. (She had to take off the knee-highs for match play.) She also has her own line of designer apparel, and is a certified nail technician with her own collection of polishes. Earlier this year she became the first female athlete to solely occupy the cover of Vogue. That might tell you more about Vogue. Or it might tell you more about Serena.

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ung San Suu Kyi Known and admired for always donning the traditional Myanmar blouse (anyi) and sarong (longyi) and for putting fresh flowers in her tied-up hair, the willowy, tranquil-but-resolute Aung San Suu Kyi is a local and international symbol of heroism and peace towards a hopeful end to Myanmar’s military repression. Under house arrest for 15 out of 21 sentenced years, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner’s consistent wardrobe has also become a political statement against the regime. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, always stood out for preferring traditional clothes, and she herself would wear the traditional clothes of ethnic groups in each region, to show her sympathy and support. Women then and today show their own support for her by ordering their tailors to copy her clothes.

The former political refugee known as Zarni once made and sent clothes as an expression of his admiration for the Lady. Now free from house arrest, she is still fighting for democratic reform and a chance to run for the presidency – an idea barred by the current regime on the grounds that her two sons are foreign citizens.

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eng Liyuan It was on her first diplomatic tour in 2013 when Peng Liyuan solidified her status as a global style icon. A major general in the People’s Liberation Army, contemporary folk singer, performing artist, president of the People’s Liberation Army Arts College, and the current First Lady of China, Peng Liyuan’s fame probably trumps that of Chinese President Xi Jinping himself – a first in Chinese history, as first wives have been lowprofile since the ’70s. Landing in Moscow for the first time in a smart navy trench coat, scarf, and handbag, all designed by independent Chinese label Exception de Mixmind, Peng’s wardrobe sparked a flurry of praise back home for its understated sophistication and support of domestic brands. In each of her public appearances, Peng presents an image of the sophisticated Chinese woman. By donning smart homegrown suits and elegant designs with an Oriental flair, Peng Liyuan is singlehandedly bringing pride and luxury back to Chinese fashion.

eymah Gbowee Though her traditional outfits pop like few others and bring a flamboyant burst of colour to any room or event she graces, to talk of her merely in sartorial terms would be to trivialise her achievements. Leymah Gbowee is, after all, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who led Liberia out of the dark. Without her, many believe the 13-year war that brutalised her homeland and left 250,000 people dead would never have ended, as it did, finally, in 2003. Leymah was only 17 when warlord Charles Taylor led an uprising to topple then-president Samuel Doe. She had hoped to study medicine, but the war shattered her dreams. By 1997, she had realised that it was up to women to do something: namely, make a stand so that men might follow their cue. “Nothing happened overnight,” she wrote in a column for Newsweek. “In fact it took three years of community awareness, sit-ins, and non-violent demonstrations staged by ordinary ‘market women.’ Then we launched the sex strike. In 2002, Liberia’s Christian and Muslim women banded together to refuse sex with their husbands until the violence and civil strife ended.” They made progress, but peace still eluded them, so one day they decided to block warring factions from leaving the room where talks were happening. Leymah even threatened to strip naked, seen as a powerful curse in West Africa. And it worked. Using sex and the clothes on your back as a political weapon? If there has been a more potent modern expression of dogged female empowerment, we can’t think of it.

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ristina FernAndez de Kirchner Political power, alluring speech and impeccable style – the current president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is considered the second coming of Evita Peron. Maybe she is or maybe she isn’t. Argentina’s first elected, and re-elected, female president is best known for her powerful speeches, her popularity among the middle-class and lowerincome citizens, and an impeccable style characterised by elegant clothes and accessories crafted especially for her by luxury fashion brands. Political critics say the clock of her second term’s honeymoon period is ticking, since Cristina (as the Argentinians love to call her) will be forced to encounter growing demands for better economic reform. One thing is for sure: she will always face her troubles in style.

ivienne Westwood You can say Vivienne Westwood invented punk and no one will challenge you. Back in the ’70s, the revolutionary designer shocked society with a gravity-defying hairstyle, purple lips and a fashion sense saturated with safety pins, chicken bones and T-shirts with one-word social commentaries. Over the years, her designs have teetered between extremely provocative, anti-establishment pieces that challenge convention (underwear worn as outerwear, tea-stained dresses) and heartbreakingly beautiful creations (airy ballerina-style dresses, structured ball gowns, extravagantly poufy wedding gowns). Her continuous use of British fabrics such as Harris tweed and tartan, along with her re-fashioning of historic garments such as the corset and crinoline, have earned Westwood the title of “Dame,” but even the lofty designation hasn’t stopped the 74-year old from turning down the shock value. Westwood has recently turned her attentions to fashion activism, using her designs and influence to promote issues such as sustainability, the fight against climate change, AIDS and animal rights. Her most recent show of subversion had her taking to the streets of London to campaign against the controversial drilling process of fracking.

Vivienne Westwood is clearly not your typical English matron – and the world is all the better because of it.

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She didn’t know enough to not give away Pontiac sports cars to people who couldn’t afford the luxury tax, but she knew enough, at least, to wear a red fitted dress – designed by Michael Kors for Celine – when she did so. That way, when she sat atop the car after announcing her beneficence, she would resemble the brightly ribboned bow tied to a keyring beneath each audience member’s seat. There have been many, many style mishaps – that’s just the law of averages – every single one of them has been seen by millions. There was that time she wore a plaid skirt that looked even to her style advisor Adam Glassman “like a fringed sofa blanket,” or that blouse and skirt that billowed out, balloon-like, portending the possibility that Oprah would sail away forever. Tellingly, she saved one of her classiest decisions for The Oprah Winfrey Show’s finale: a gray Carolina Herrera that she’d purchased off the rack, “although not” – according to another advisor, Kelly Hurliman – “with the intention of using it for such an iconic moment. It was the right dress at the right time.”

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ilda Swinton Tilda Swinton is an original. There’s no other way to describe her. She dresses incredibly, whether in big costumey gowns or sleek metallic separates. She wears androgyny like it should be constitutionalised and slicks back her hair like a ’50s greaser with a partiality for Clorox.

Swinton’s clothes are almost never sexy; in fact, she epitomises anti-sexy in the way a Girl Scout embodies everything honourable and charitable. Despite this, she was still named GQ’s Woman of the Year in 2014 — and didn’t have to show any cleavage for the accompanying photo shoot.

The Oscar-winning British actress’s style 083 has been described in a lot of ways: avantgarde, crazy, brilliant, bizarre. And as her fashion continues to defy convention, so have the roles she’s played. Most recently, Swinton has been a tragic vampire lover, a deranged gender-neutral general in an ice-encrusted dystopic future, and a horny nonagenarian named Madame Céline Villeneuve Desgoffe und Taxis. Needless to say, she was disturbingly fascinating in each role; Tilda Swinton wouldn’t be who she is if she didn’t unnerve.

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nnie Lennox The famous “Lennox look” – that short hair, those suit-jackets – came about when Annie Lennox decided she “wanted to create something that was quite edgy and belonged to me,” as she once explained to Interview magazine. “It wasn’t about my sexual orientation, because I’m heterosexual. It was saying that appearance is just temporary, and I want to be as strong as a man. That is why the suit was worn. That is part of the language that was being expressed.” She’s always known enough about beauty to know that “it’s a special thing” that “lives quietly...waiting to be discovered,” and enough about people to know that they “try to turn it into something that is quantifiable and sellable.” “Listen,” she said, “what do you do when you’re 60?

You let go. You stay healthy, and you know what really counts.”

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alala Yousafzai Rarely has a look made such an important statement. “My mother use to get angry with me in Pakistan for not covering my face and say, ‘That man is looking at you, and that man is looking at you,’” Malala told the Financial Times in 2013. “And I said: that man is looking at me and I am also looking at him.” This precocious form of courage – her refusal to wear a burka, or hide quietly behind it – has made this young schoolgirl a global icon.

Her native Swat valley had been a tourist attraction until the Taliban swept in to the region, imposing Sharia law in 2009. Schools were blown up. Teachers intimidated. In their stead, madrasses – religious schools – forced boys to memorise the Koran as they rocked back and forth, and taught that “there is no such thing as science or literature, that dinosaurs never existed and that man never went to the moon.” Incensed, Malala was out there, dressed in a scarf, giving interviews and speeches and winning nationwide recognition as a campaigner for a girl’s right to education and equal rights. She even wrote a blog about life under the Taliban for the BBC. That’s when, in 2012, they shot her at point-blank range. They hoped she would disappear but she didn’t.

Now living in the UK and balancing her studies with her campaigning, she’s only gotten stronger, and that serene look more defiant.

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ayoi Kusama Japan’s grand dame of the avant garde, now 86, has had her challenges, to say the least. Since a young age, she has experienced visual and aural hallucinations, and the eccentricities stemming from them are legendary: she’s used a door for a bed, been spotted rummaging through trashcans for fish heads, and even wrote to Nixon promising to go to bed with him if he withdrew from Vietnam. In 1977 she voluntarily checked herself in to a psychiatric hospital, and she’s remained there ever since, leaving only to work in a studio across the street. But we love her for her being a different sort of dotty. Though there have been novels, poetry collections and one autobiography, she’s best known for producing canvases that fetishise the polka dot with a fervent intensity. She has said that the repetitive and simple act of creating these dots helps obliterate her anxieties, to keep the wild dogs at bay so to speak. So important are these dots that dresses emblazoned with them are all she wears, her wardrobe seemingly just another way of shaping and controlling that which can’t be shaped or controlled: the vicissitudes of life.

arla Bruni Sarkozy There’s no better person to represent the spirit of French fashion than the former First Lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The Italian-French model turned singer-songwriter, philanthropist and actress has always been known for her impeccable sense of fashion, polishing it even further when she took on the role of France’s most powerful woman. Wearing renowned homegrown labels like Dior, Chanel and Hermès whenever she made official appearances, Bruni’s style places importance on cuts, silhouettes and proportions that emphasise neutral and dark colours, and embody the class and elegance these labels engender. Now that she’s no longer in the political spotlight, Bruni-Sarkozy has thrown out the formal finery and reverted to a more casual-chic style. “What I would wear in a public situation changed,” she recently told T Magazine, “because when you actually have the honour of representing a country, you try to achieve a higher level of elegance to make them happy and proud, you know? But my personal style is basically pants, shoes and T-shirts.”

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Charlotte Casiraghi is not a pretty woman. Her blue-eyed gaze is too direct, her jaw a bit too strong and her bowshaped lips a tad too thick. No, she’s not pretty. Rather, Charlotte Casiraghi is stunning. Hers is that kind of beauty that has parlayed a royal upbringing into deeply entrenched elegance and an enviable amount of self-possession. Though she has lived in the glare of the paparazzi for most of her life, being the granddaughter of Grace Kelly, daughter of Princess Caroline and the niece of Prince Albert, Monaco’s reigning monarch, Charlotte Casiraghi has tried, for the most part, to avoid the spotlight and is in fact one of the most private of fashion personalities. An accomplished equestrian and amateur showjumper, Casiraghi has only appeared on a smattering of magazine covers, most recently that of French Vogue in April, where, clad in a denim, equestrian-style jacket, she directs her signature no-nonsense gaze at Mario Testino’s lens. Last year, she was handpicked as the face of Gucci’s newly launched makeup collection, the perfect ambassador to represent a brand that has always been about restrained luxury and effortless sophistication.

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ueen Letizia Though she wasn’t born royalty, the former journalist who married Prince, now King, Filipe VI of Spain in 2004 upgraded her professional workingwoman look to cultivate a style befitting of a queen. Her efforts are much adored by the people of Spain. When it comes to fashion and style, Queen Letizia has never hesitated to support Spanish designers.

The mother of two travels all over Spain with her husband, engaging in charitable projects and attending state events dressed in sharp outfits from favourite Spanish brands such as Ailanto, Mango, Zara and, most importantly, Felipe Varela, Letizia’s favourite designer who also designs her couture gowns for formal events. Thanks to her chic fashions, Queen Letizia is always voted one of the best-dressed women in Europe. Â

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igella Lawson Figuratively speaking, the knives have been out for Nigella – author of such kitchen-shelf staples as Nigella Bites and How to be a Domestic Goddess – recently. When ex-husband Charles Saatchi dragged her through the law courts and accused her of cocaine abuse, the British media spun the story as a mighty fall from grace. She might not have emerged unscathed from all the attention, but she’s still the queen of the kitchen. Make that the stylish and steely queen of the kitchen. Over the years, the spatula-wielding siren has, with her flowing brown locks and tight-fitting outfits that flatter that amble bosom, all but banished the image of female TV chefs as singularly frumpy and schoolmarmish (we’re looking at you Delia).

And her recent appearances in the witness box were something else. “Lawson’s war paint meant business,” was the Telegraph’s verdict. “Calculated beautifully, this was easy on the glamour, high on effect.

The 53-year-old’s flawless skin, sculpted cheekbones, strong brows and balm showed this woman was ready for battle.”

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Queen Rania of Jordan has always topped lists of the world’s most influential women. Not because she is the first Queen of Jordan in centuries who walks upfront together with her husband, the king. Not because of her gorgeous looks and modern Western outfits that leave her long hair free from any kind of cover. And not because she has more than eight million followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Queen Rania is influential because she has both beauty and brains. The queen successfully manipulates all of those aforementioned elements to support her philanthropic work in education, which she believes will empower women and their families.

“As you educate a woman,” she once said, “you educate the family. If you educate the girls, you educate the future.”

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ate Blanchett A career packed with accolades and awards has given Cate Blanchett plenty of opportunities to polish up her redcarpet style. The Australian actress, who has collected an abundance of awards — two Oscars, three BAFTAs, three Golden Globes — to name a few, rarely misses a step when it comes to her sartorial decisions. Blanchett’s style is as fearless and as versatile as her acting, sometimes manifesting a fondness for off-kilter designs but always following her own individual stamp. She’ll wear prints when every other A-lister is going minimal, voluminous silhouettes even when the trend looks too slinky and sleek.

Blanchett is known for combining redcarpet victories with Oscar wins. Who can forget the pale yellow, one-shoulder Valentino gown she wore when she took home her first Oscar in 2005? Last year she won another one for her turn as a neurotic, fallen-from-grace housewife in Blue Jasmine. She celebrated her win by wearing that year’s most talked about, not to mention most expensive, Oscar ensemble: a shimmery Armani Privé gown worth US$100,000 and Chopard jewellery valued at approximately US$18 million.

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It was an all-telling photo that appeared on Vogue.com: Amal Alamuddin-Clooney in a hotel room a few hours before the Met Gala already wearing the red, multi-tiered gown John Galliano had created for her. Crouching before her was Galliano himself doing last-minute touch-ups. In the background: Vogue editrix Anna Wintour approvingly looks on. The photo affirmed what we already knew: Amal Alamuddin-Clooney, Oxford graduate, top human-rights barrister, Columbia University professor and wife to one of Hollywood’s sexiest men, had been inducted into fashion’s venerated inner circle. Even before she married George Clooney, the Lebanese-British stunner already had style-watchers sizing her up from head to toe. They fawned over the chic all-white Stella McCartney ensemble she wore to a prewedding party and regrammed that photo of her touring Venice’s canals in a striped blackand-white Dolce and Gabbana dress. But our fascination with Alamuddin-Clooney runs beyond her audacity to wear a pair of mismatched pumps or match DIY-stitched white silk gloves with a black gown. It’s the fact that her CV has seen her representing Julian Assange and advising Kofi Annan that has everyone all agog, and also that, despite all the press directed her way, Amal Clooney hasn’t granted an interview to a major glossy. After that photo, however, things might just have changed.

grid unlocked With more now being done to accommodate pedestrians and rail commuters, the roads of Bangkok may at last open up, and the people may have a chance to breathe a cleaner, more-open air. by appy norapoompipat e’ve heard it all before. “Thais are lazy. They don’t like to walk, and they don’t use public transportation because they’re dependent on their cool, air-conditioned private vehicles.” But what if this isn’t the result of mere laziness? There’s a reason Carabao describes Bangkok as “the city where people fall down open drains” in their classic hit “Made in Thailand”. Thais can definitely walk long distances, especially abroad, and even in Singapore’s equatorial climate. So there has to be an explanation for what cripples us once we land back in Bangkok.

The biggest reason, as some have already figured out, is Bangkok’s (lack of) urban design – the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services and amenities. Though developing rapidly since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Bangkok never had a cabinet-approved comprehensive urban plan until 1992. As amazing as the city’s chaos may be to some, there has been poor accessibility, traffic congestion, pollution, a neglected public realm and, consequently, a decrease in quality of life. You can hardly blame the people for not wanting to walk outside.

With the ever-increasing population and the city expected to expand, many organisations have been attempting to find ways to make Bangkok a much more pleasant and convenient place to live – a city of not only unique-looking buildings and big roads, but somewhere people can actually live a quality and balanced life.

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A brief history of what went wrong A city, according to Aristotle, exists for the sake of a good life – not for the sake of life only. Cities are supposed to be centres of access, providing all types of people with products and services we need in addition to leisure, health, communication, interaction, and joy. For most of history, cities have been the centre of access with mixed-use structures (houses, parks, schools, shops, offices, hospitals) – human-scale towns clustered around modes of transport. In 19th-century Bangkok, development huddled around the Chao Phraya River and train stations. Shops, homes, establishments for work and leisure, and transport were mostly within walking distance, designed to human scale. This can still be seen in the Rattanakosin area, where there is usually a frenzy of activity –

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leisure, commerce and transportation (walking, biking, driving) – in the public realm. It is one of the few areas of Bangkok that developed in a people-centric way before things drastically changed in the mid-20th century.

At the height of the industrial and modernist era, 28 prominent European architects formed an organisation called the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM) with the goal of spreading the principles of the Modern Movement. Their main focus was ‘The Functional City,’ a model claiming that social problems faced by cities at the time could be resolved by segregating the city into four strict categories: housing, work, recreation and transport. Their principles spread quickly throughout the world and eventually made their way to Bangkok, which at the

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Rattanakosin’s people-centric public realm (photo by Mithnun Divakaran).

time had already been intensely modernised in the late 1800s and in the 1960’s as part of General Sarit Thanarat’s program of economic and social development (phattana) to advance modernisation and fight against communism. “‘Modernism’ was a cultural movement that countries went through after going through war,” explains assistant professor Khaisri Paksukcharen, head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Architecture. Professor Khaisri is also a consultant for the Urban Design and Development Centre (UDDC), an agency founded in 2012 by the university to help coordinate stakeholders in urban development projects. “European countries had to develop and reconstruct their failing economies, so they had to build an efficient system: fast and cheap and high – which was the basis for modern architecture. But Bangkok did not go through modernism. We went through modernisation. We didn’t pass through the process like the Western countries did. We just made our city look modern, taking it in without thinking whether it would be appropriate for us or not. This is the problem that we’re currently having.”

As seen today, the model of the

“functional city” quickly became dysfunctional. By separating land use, where the only connection to different areas are roads, the city’s planners forced people to use cars to access what they need. The role of the street was altered completely from a place for transport, commerce and social interaction to transport alone. “What is the consequence of this?” asks Professor Khaisri.

“We have commercial areas like Silom, Sathorn, etc, and we have a lot of neighbourhoods in the suburbs. What happens is that in the morning, there’s traffic because everyone’s trying to get into the city. And vice versa in the evening.

Everybody uses cars, so the sois and streets of Bangkok became unfit for pedestrians as the blocks became superblocks, since cars need roadways to get to their destination.”

Ultimately, we have created a city for cars instead of a city for people. “Any city that has raised zebra crossings or footpaths is a city that has given up to automobiles,” says Professor Khaisri. “Skywalks as well. They are a tool that separates pedestrians from the actual city downstairs, so cars can travel as fast as possible, resulting in a lack of economic transaction [and community] on the streets. The street level is considered the most

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The way the city was designed has forced people to use cars to access what they need.

The role of the street was altered completely from a place for transport, commerce and social interaction to transport alone.

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Bangkok has separated pedestrians from the streets.

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important space,” she continues, “so the skywalk is not necessary at all if we take care of the street level to make it functional and efficient. We have chosen to make people’s lives more difficult than those of cars. The number of people who use cars is 30 percent of the population. Why does the majority have to suffer for the minority? It’s completely gone the wrong way.”

Returning the streets to the people On May 16th 2013, the Thai cabinet approved legislation to ensure that Bangkok’s Third Comprehensive Plan would be used as a guideline for the development of Bangkok. This Comprehensive Plan consists of four maps that aim to standardise the use of property, transportation and logistics, public utilities and public services in order to turn Bangkok into a pleasant city to live, as well as make it a model city in terms of environmental friendliness.

“The Comprehensive Plan is an extremely important tool,” says Professor Khaisri. “It’s revolutionary in fact, because this is the first Comprehensive Plan that changes the focus of developing the city from roads to rails.” The First and Second Comprehensive Plan, approved in 1992 and 2006, were milestones in their own right, but they still placed importance on other aspects like expanding roads and improving green areas. “Right

now, Bangkok should stop adding and developing roads for cars and [further] develop the mass transit.”

Currently, there are plans underway for a total of 12 masstransit lines stretching 600 kilometres around Bangkok and its suburbs. Ten lines are due for completion by 2019, according to the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP). “If the trains expand well enough, people will start choosing,” says Professor Khaisri. “Choosing to leave their cars at home and taking the train to work. After that, it’ll progress to people willing to walk. Walking is the key factor for changing the state of the city.”

Once people start walking to and from train stations, the surrounding area should start to change and become richer, with small stores and high-density mixed developments springing up along the streets around the station. With people starting to walk, the city should break up large superblocks to create publicly accessible pedestrian paths and sois where people can walk to and from the stations near their work, homes or activities. Arcades can be added and trees planted – as in Singapore – to give shade to pedestrians and make walking more pleasant.

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to the law. But if people start taking the train, I hope that in due time, we won’t need that many parking spaces anymore. The base of the building could be cafes, shopping areas, or public spaces where people can walk around and hang out. I don’t want to say that it’ll change to become like cities in Europe. But European cities are designed very well for walking.”

This small, detailed and dense development would hopefully result in Transit Oriented Development (TOD).

A TOD is a mixed-use walkable residential and commercial area centred on high-quality train stations, designed around a network of highquality public spaces. TOD is a great solution towards traffic problems, climate change, and the growing need for a quality urban lifestyle; when walking is a pleasure, people are more inclined to take transit, bike

and walk instead of drive everywhere.

Since Bangkok is working hard on building 12 new train lines, it is now the UDDC’s job to create these “highquality public spaces.”

Quality space for the people “Bangkok actually has many public areas, but they are hard to access.

There are hundreds of kilometres of riverfront, but the access points are scattered,” says Professor Khaisri.

“Quality public spaces where city people can come together and mingle is extremely limited.” There has never really been anyone responsible for the public realm in Bangkok until around a decade ago when Chulalongkorn University first opened up its Urban Design program. More recently, the UDDC was formed to build Urban Design careers and develop public areas in the city. Currently, both the

Before: Yannawa Riverfront today.

After: A rendering of what the Yannawa Riverfront could be.

(Photos by Yannawa Riverfront Project).

Although the future mass transit system sounds like a panacea, the reality is that developing Bangkok into a people-centric city will be a very slow and hard process.

institution and the UDDC have been pushing forward numerous projects to better Bangkok’s public areas.

One of those still in the pipeline is the Yannawa Riverfront Project.

Research, planning and designing, and public forums have been ongoing over the last three years to see whether the Yannawa Riverfront Project – a 1.2-kilometre stretch of greenery, bike lanes and walkways that would extend from Saphan Taksin BTS to Wat Yannawa – is actually viable. “If it actually happens, I think it’ll serve as a pilot project that creates careers for future urban designers in Thailand.

It’ll show that a true public space that goes through a public process will benefit everyone. The project would be done by the government, the educational department and the public, and it would create further discussion about true public areas in the city.”

The Yannawa Riverfront would also create a virtual community and would offer an opportunity for strangers from different ages and nationalities to engage in different and overlapping activities in the same area, from day to night. The presence of a community would also guarantee safety within the area, as there are

always eyes on the street. “If you have a public area, you have to guarantee routine users,” says Professor Khaisri.

“Once a public area is interwoven [and becomes] part of natural movement and daily life, it means that area is successful.”

Although the future mass transit system and the UDDC projects sound like a panacea to the city’s problems, the reality is that developing Bangkok into a people-centric city will be a very slow and hard process. With government limitations, no laws to implement project plans, and with problems concerning the public not willing to face expropriation, the UDDC has to deal with the community itself, individually asking property owners if they will allow these public projects to build on or around their properties. “The public has never seen an example of a good public space that they got compensation for,” says Professor Khaisri. “We have to understand the psychology of the citizens too.”

Furthermore, there are other aspects concerning design that are significant to Thai people. “Whatever Western design theories say, Bangkok is the antithesis of that,” she says with a laugh. “We have to develop the city in our own terms. We can’t just copy Korea or Paris. The goal might be the same in that it will benefit the public but, in the end, Thais have characteristics of land use that are definitely not the same as the West.

Our public areas have to be ‘custommade’. There has to be research, discussion, and public forums, as a space that is successful in a city is a space people go to use. There has been a lot of research on Bangkok.

Every square metre has been analysed by different people. But those people might not be able to see their plans become reality. Chulalongkorn University and UDDC want to really build it. We want to make it become reality.”

home truths Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra opens up on Bangkok’s future development.

What important projects are you working on now and for the future?

The policies I presented in 2008 and 2013 are policies that are quite rounded. It is not possible, however, to complete them within two terms.

In terms of setting down the roots to the future, they are quite clear. I have tried, in the past six years, to not only create a better life for the people of Bangkok, but a balanced and safe life as well.

For a good life, the citizens have to live their daily lives with convenience – meaning travel to places conveniently. That’s one emphasis for me in developing the various rapid transits – or public transport by rail – to connect with the rapid transit of the government so people will be able to choose how they travel. At the same time, we’re promoting other choices, like travelling by water. We have started services for passengers in Khlong Pasi Jaroen and we’re probably going to do this in other canals as well.

A good life means that you have to be in a place where the environment and atmosphere is good, too. What I emphasise is the increasing of green space. I have policies for the building of large public parks. We will have four to five more parks, from 40 to 100 rai, around Bang Khae, Bangkuntien, Minburi, which should give the citizens a place to relax.

What kind of city do you imagine Bangkok developing into?

A lot of people believe that we should be a leading city of Asia, but what’s more important is for the citizens to have a balanced life, to have opportunities to work, to have opportunities to develop themselves, and to have opportunities to study what they want to study.

What do you think is preventing Bangkokians from using public transport? How can this be resolved?

Thai people aren’t disobedient or stubborn. It’s just that in the past 40 years, we have not focused on rapid transit and public transport. What the Thai government has been doing in the past 40 years is promoting the use of private automobiles. We’ve expanded roads, covered up canals, and built more roads while neglecting public transport in all its different forms.

Bangkok has six million registered people, but there are eight million registered private vehicles. We didn’t develop public transport as we should have. We also started building it extremely slowly. Public transport is 15 years old, and today, it still does not cover all of Bangkok. If the government is not able to build rapid transit for them, the people will have to use cars. It’s not the people’s fault that they’re not using public transport.

Right now, I believe that everybody has realised the importance of public transport. Thais are very quick adaptors. During the first period of the BTS, the trains didn’t reach 200,000 passengers per day. But now there are over 700,000 people using them. Thai people can adapt, but we have to give them choices. I think that in 14 years, the face of Bangkok will drastically change.

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The Huayna Picchu peak and Urubamba Valley from terraces below Machu Picchu, near Cuzco.

STONED IN PERU The monumental capital of the Incas that became a Spanish colonial gem, Cuzco turns back the clock for its Festival of the Sun. by keith mundy

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ow did they do it? A fortress with triple-tiered walls made of gigantic blocks of stone, all irregularly-shaped, zigzagging for 400 metres along a mountaintop, many of the blocks weighing more than 100 tons: how could a people lacking cranes, engines, electricity or draught animals build that?

This staggering Inca ruin stands on a bluff high above the Andean city of Cuzco, inviting the Erich Von Danikens of this world to come up with wild theories of extraterrestrial intervention, prompting the Spanish conquistadors to credit its daunting bulk to demons and sorcerers, whilst engineers and archaeologists – though firmly grounded in science and history – still puzzle about it.

“Cyclopean” is the word that archaeologists pin to this kind of masonry, which also exists at Mycenae, the first great Greek city.

Mystified by Mycenae’s ruins, later Greeks thought only the mythical giants called Cyclopes could have built such walls. If those Greeks had seen the walls of this Inca fortress called Sacsayhuaman, they would have had to invent a new giant to account for this jigsaw of mighty stones far bigger than anything in Ancient Greece.

Drawing on earlier civilisations in what are now Peru and Bolivia, the Incas created a civilisation that was sophisticated, widespread and superbly organised. Leaving hugely

Many are the beautiful colonial cities of Latin America, where Iberian architectural forms have taken on tropical patinas, yet Cuzco stands at the forefront of these gems.

impressive evidence that can be seen today throughout the central Andes, the Incas became a great imperial power in the 15th century, controlling territory stretching more than 5,000 kilometres from presentday southern Colombia all the way down to central Chile. They left their most famous structures in what is now the southern Peruvian Andes – in their capital, Cuzco, in the nearby Sacred Valley, and at the mountain-top city of Machu Picchu.

A Monumental Capital Most people go straight to the heart to start their discovery of the Incas, to Cuzco, a low-rise city of redtiled roofs and white adobe walls that nestles in a mountain-ringed Cuzco cityscape at night.

The Virgin and Child of Cuzco.

valley at a height of 3,400 metres.

Gasping for breath, you discover a city where – somehow – the Incas had the puff to build with massive stone blocks and the Spanish summoned the energy to build cathedrals and palaces on top of those Inca foundations.

Many are the beautiful colonial cities of Latin America, where Iberian architectural forms have taken on tropical patinas, yet Cuzco – which under Spanish rule became a provincial capital of the Vice-Royalty of Peru – stands at the forefront of these gems.

The focus is the Plaza de Armas.

Around this central square stand the great Christian edifices of the Cathedral, built on the site of the Palace of the Inca Viracocha from 1559 onwards, and the church of La Compania de Jesus, commenced in 1571 on the site of the Palace of

the Serpents, then destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt a century later.

These churches are emblematic of Cuzco’s history, founded with Inca strength and surmounted

by Spanish power. The massive elemental strength of Inca stone foundations supports elaborate Catholic structures in which Inca decorative traditions merge with the Spanish. A striking example is the Cathedral’s painting of the Last Supper, a classic Christian subject, where the main dish is the Inca delicacy of roast guinea pig.

In Inca times the Plaza de Armas was twice as big. Called Huakaypata, it was the ceremonial centre of the Inca Empire, surrounded by temples and palaces.

The Spanish razed those symbols of Inca power, but left many foundations, either because the

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Cuzco's Plaza de Armas.

The focus of Cuzco is the Plaza de Armas. Around this central square stand the great Christian edifices of the Cathedral. These churches are emblematic of Cuzco's history, founded with Inca strength and surmounted by Spanish power.

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empire of every piece of the metal they could find.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Sacsayhuaman Temple has walls that spread in zigzags over three levels.

stones were just too difficult to move, or because they could build their own churches and palaces on top.

Inca masonry was of two types, both sloping back rather than rising vertically. The most important temples and palaces had cubic blocks laid in regular layers, “coursed masonry” in architects’ speech. Less sacred buildings employed irregular blocks that nevertheless fitted together perfectly without benefit of mortar.

Both kinds are admired for their precision by modern architects, but the irregular kind is a special joy for anyone’s eye. What artists they were, these Inca masons!

Walking the old streets, you delight in a unique aesthetic, made by builders who loved crazy paving. An alley called Loreto leads downward from the Plaza de Armas, framed by high walls of Inca-coursed masonry, sloping back slightly. Behind one stretch of wall

stands what was once the House of the Chosen Women, or Virgins of the Sun. Royal concubines, these women wove garments of vicuña and alpaca wool for the Inca ruler and brewed his chicha, beer made from maize. Step through the single doorway and there is the patio of a former Catholic convent, created by the Spanish to house rather more severe virgins.

In Hatunrumiyoc Street, a jigsaw wall that was once part of the Palace of the Inca Roca – the sixth Sapa Inca, or King, of the Kingdom of Cuzco – contains a twelve-sided stone that fits perfectly with others that are sevenor nine- or five-sided. Elsewhere, Santo Domingo Church rises atop a huge curving and sloping Inca wall, originally the base of the chief temple called Coricancha and clad in gold plate when the Spanish found it. Not for long after, of course, as the gold-crazy conquistadors plundered the Inca

The Mighty Fortress High above all this on its hilltop is the great fortress of Sacsayhuaman, strangely a lesser known Inca monument, which makes it a mighty surprise for many visitors. Perhaps its awkward Spanish name has obscured it, but the guides soon help you out there. “Say ‘sexy woman’ and you’ve got it,” they wink. In fact, the spelling in Quechua, the Inca language that is still the native tongue for most people in the central Andes, makes it quite clear: saqsaywaman.

Coming out of the blue to you, Sacsayhuaman is the most stunning of Inca ruins, and when you read up the background, it’s mind-boggling. What you see today constitutes perhaps only a quarter of the original complex, which easily housed more than 10,000 men. Now there remain only the lower parts of the astounding outer walls, their colossal many-sided stones fitting tightly together without the aid of mortar, with the biggest stone the size of a small house, standing 8.5 metres high and probably weighing about 140 tonnes.

Grassy terraces run between

Incan Stone Calendar.

the walls and on the central heights are the foundations of towers, storehouses, dwelling-places and other buildings. You feel both dwarfed and intimidated standing next to the stones, and there’s no doubt that part of the purpose of Sacsayhuaman was to impress the visiting vassals of the Incas. “See what we can do”, it says, “and don’t argue with us.”

After the Spanish conquistadors took Cuzco in the 1530s, they began hauling stones away to build their new city, and today only the megaliths that were too large to be moved remain at the site. If we are gobsmacked today by this fortress, then just imagine how other peoples of the region felt when they saw it in its full glory.

But was it a fortress or was it something else – a temple perhaps?

Sacsayhuaman is usually called a fortress because it sits on a hilltop and has huge forbidding walls, as do so many castles in Europe, the Middle East and India. However, recent investigations suggest that it could have been a temple-citadel devoted to the worship of the sun.

Worshipping the Sun Harking back to those great days of empire when the sun was the central god of Inca religion, sun worship is re-enacted on this spot – so fit

CUZCO TRAVEL FILE Getting there Cuzco lies almost exactly on the opposite side of the globe from Bangkok, just about the farthest place you can go, needing at least 24 hours’ flying time to get there. Air France-KLM ( www.airfrance.co.th ) has daily flights via Europe to Lima, Peru’s capital. From Lima, there are frequent domestic flights to Cuzco.

Where to stay Cuzco has an enormous range of hotels in all classes, many of them occupying historic buildings.

Belmond Hotel Monasterio Once a seminary built over an Inca emperor’s palace, this historic landmark is an exceptional luxury hotel. Calle Palacios 136; +51 84 604000; www.belmond.com Palacio del Inka An outstanding Luxury Collection hotel inhabiting a colonial mansion built on Inca foundations. Plazoleta Santo Domingo 259; tel: +51 84 231961; www.starwoodhotels. com Tierra Viva Cusco San Blas A charming mid-range hotel inhabiting traditional buildings around a courtyard.

Calle Carmen Alto 194; tel. +51 84 233070; http://tierravivahoteles.com Hotel Arqueologo An atmospheric mid-range hotel with some Inca stonework and colonial murals. Calle Pumacurco 408; tel. +51 84 232522; www.hotelarqueologo.com Hotel Del Prado Inn An affordable and comfortable hotel very close to the main square. Calle Suecia 310; tel. +51 84 224442; www.delpradoinn.com Festival of the Sun June 24th every year.

Schedule: 9-9.30am at Coricancha; 1111.45am at Plaza de Armas; 1.30-3pm at Sacsayhuaman.

Tickets for Sacsayhuaman seats available at www.reservasintiraymi.info Official website: www.emufec.gob.pe/es/ inti-raymi Dramatic new stadium of Athletic Club football team.

A woman walks her Lama beside the walls of the Sacsayhuaman temple.

for drama – each June 24th in Latin America’s greatest historical pageant. Garbed in a wealth of costumes, hundreds of local people recreate the Inca Festival of the Sun – Inti Raymi – in the great grassy plaza that spreads beneath the Cyclopean walls of Sacsayhuaman.

Held in honour of Inti, the sun god, Inti Raymi marked the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year –and heralded the Inca new year. It was the Incas’ most important ceremony, because the sun was considered the creator of all that exists, presiding over the destinies of man and the universe – reasonably enough – and the Inca emperor was “The Son of the Sun.” Filling nine days with dances, rituals, processions and sacrifices, the festival paid homage to the mythical origin of the Incas, born of the sun, with the emperor invoking 198

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the sun to come back from its furthest point. Inti Raymi, however, was snuffed out by the Spanish in 1535, as contrary to their Catholic faith. Revived in 1944, today’s rituals take inspiration from the accounts of Garcilaso de la Vega, a 16th-century chronicler born of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman.

Now reduced to one long day, the festivities start in front of Santo Domingo Church, by the base of the Temple of the Sun, Coricancha, watched by huge crowds. Blowing on conches, chasquis – the fleetfooted messengers of the Inca empire – summon the celebrants group by group. Musicians, dancers, sacred virgins, provincial headmen, all present themselves.

Nobles, court officials and high priests assemble, elaborately costumed, decked with silver and Dancers perform during the Inti Raymi festival.

The Cathedral at Plaza-de-Armas.

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gold ornaments, and finally there arrive Mama Ocllo, the royal consort, and the Sapa Inca, the emperor.

Between ceremonial music and dances, the Sapa Inca invokes the sun and implores it to be good to all in the coming year. Then the emperor mounts a golden throne, replicating the original gilded imperial throne, and is carried on a litter in a great procession up Avenida del Sol – Avenue of the Sun – to the central square of Plaza de Armas.

Ahead of the procession, costumed women sweep the streets of evil spirits and flower girls strew a path of petals for the Inca.

The Plaza de Armas – the vast Huakaypata of the Incas – was where the original Inti Raymi took place, but in the modern version there is just a 45-minute ceremony here, with the Sapa Inca thanking Father Sun for all his blessings and reading the sacred coca leaf to divine the future of the empire. Then the pageant proceeds up the hillside to the heights of Sacsayhuaman for the main event. Here where there is much more space as well as a dramatic site, huge crowds are gathered, many on grandstand seats booked well in advance.

Reaching The Heights The Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar, an imitation stone platform in the centre of the plaza, the high priests following, and the celebrants take up positions all around, lining up in blazes of colour, singing and performing ritual dances. In one of many rituals, the emperor and the priests pay homage to the Serpent for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods. Miked up these days, the speakers are heard loud and clear across the whole plaza as they articulate the ancient formulas.

To bow to modern sensitivities, the priests only pretend to sacrifice a llama with a golden blade and hold aloft its heart in honour of Pachamama, Mother Earth, this to

ensure the fertility of the earth and, together with Father Sun’s light and warmth, provide bountiful crops. All this is done with great solemnity, as if everybody still believed in it, and some do, attending local solstice celebrations throughout the region on the same day.

In the old days, the celebrants fasted and refrained from sex for three days before the event, and they presented gifts to the Inca, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea. These days, people skip the first bit and home in on the feasting. In contrast to the solemn official activities, jolliness reigns in the streets with folk dances, marching bands, lots of food and drink for sale, and lots of breathy Andean flute music.

Cuzco being both a major tourist and university city, the place actually rocks most of the year after dark. And few cities in the world have such a wealth of historic buildings turned into hotels, so that when you do lay your head on a pillow, it’s likely to be next to a wall of mighty Inca masonry.

In his wonderful travel book on Peru called Cut Stones And Crossroads, the archaeologist Ronald Wright checks into a hostal in Loreto alley, that one with the magnificent sloping walls, for him “Cusco’s most perfect street”. The innkeeper asks, “Would you like a room with the Inca wall?”

“The stonework shows nothing of five centuries,” he marvels. “The builders might just have left and the Incas not yet moved in...The old claim that a knife blade will not enter anywhere is an insult to this craftsmanship: there isn’t space for a cigarette paper.” “‘Some people don’t like the lack of windows,’ the innkeeper says, ‘but others like the wall.’”

This is where you find out just how much you love the wonder walls of Cuzco.

photo: ©corbis / profile

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Solar Power There is surely no thing more important to human societies than the sun, and all over the world there are festivals that celebrate its power and gifts.

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The Sun Festival, Abu Simbel

Twice a year, the rising sun strikes ancient pharaonic statues within the dark recesses of the Temple of Ramses II in far southern Egypt. An awe-inspiring sight, the temple at Abu Simbel was carved out of a cliff beside the Nile in the 13th century BC, with four colossal seated figures of the pharaoh himself guarding the entrance. Amazingly, the temple was re-located in 1968 higher up to avoid drowning by the lake waters about to be created by the Aswan Dam. Ramses II had the temple angled so that on the date of his ascension to the throne (21st February) and on his birthday (21st October) the sun’s rays would enter the normally dark inner sanctum, falling on statues of the sun gods Re-Horakhte and Amon-Re, and one of himself. Meanwhile the adjacent statue of the Theban god of darkness, Ptah, remains in the shadows.

For what is now known as the Sun Festival of King Ramses II, crowds assemble in the temple before sunrise and watch the shafts of light slowly creep through the inner hypostyle hall and into the sanctuary, a day later than Ramses II had determined because of the relocation.

Midsummer, Finland

Summer Solstice, Stonehenge

Before dawn on June 21st every year, thousands of people gather at Stonehenge in southern England to witness the sun rise. Some make it a ceremony, some make it a party, others simply enjoy the atmosphere of an ancient rite that goes back to prehistoric Britain.

Druids, hippies, New Agers, mystery seekers and just plain folk, as many as 40,000 may turn up.

Europe’s greatest prehistoric monument, Stonehenge stands halftoppled on a treeless rolling plain 136km west of London. Formed by concentric rings of massive standing stones linked by colossal horizontal stones laid on top, Stonehenge is the star attraction at the centre of Europe’s densest concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments.

Archaeologists still debate its purpose, but of one thing there’s no doubt: it was designed so that at sunrise on the summer solstice, the sun appears directly over the Heel Stone and its first rays shine through an arch into the centre of the monument (If it’s not cloudy, as it often is in England). But everyone comes in hope of a sunny spectacle – all who find special meaning or pleasure in midsummer at one of the world’s most magnetic sites.

No one does midsummer like the Finns.

Europe’s most completely northern country, Finland has a far north that lies within the Arctic Circle and enjoys May, June and July days when the sun never sets. Even in the south, at the capital city of Helsinki, around the time of the summer solstice it never gets truly dark, and the phenomenon of the “nightless nights” gets the Finns frolicsome in a way that their usually gloomy and chilly climate does not.

The weekend nearest June 21st, the longest day, brings a big national celebration of midsummer where people get away to their lakeside cottages with friends and family, to party or just relax in the plentiful light and new warmth. In former times, big bonfires were lit beside lakes to banish evil spirits, and today Finns continue to light them – in cities as well as the countryside – together with barbecues of sausages and new potatoes, washed down with plenty of schnapps and beer. Revelling in midsummer, they take saunas with special alacrity, deck their houses with birch branches, and go boating in the middle of the white nights.