anticipated futures proceedings

246 Pages·2016·9.59 MB·English

NEW YORK CITY
40°43’N 74°00’W
BANGKOK
+
13°45’N 100°29’+E +
BUENOS AIRES
34°36’S 58°22’W
(UN)ANTICIPATED FUTURES
SYMPOSIUM 2012
Chulalongkorn University February 16-19
BANGKOK, THAILAND
PROCEEDINGS
Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Architecture | The New School | Universidad de Buenos Aires
BANGKOK SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZATION
HOSTED BY
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
Chulalongkorn University
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE DEAN
Prof. Dr. Bundit Chulasai
INDA PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Dr. Preechaya Sittipunt
ACADEMIC COORDINATION AND PUBLICATIONS
Kerrie Butts
Nilay Mistry
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT
Pornprom Mannontaratana
Pannasarn Sombuntham
Dr. Kanwipa Methanuntakul
Suwapat Srikassapa
PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES
Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University
Parson The New School for Design, The New School
Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism, University of Buenos Aires (FADU UBA)
SPECIAL THANKS
The Observatory on Latin America
The Embassy of Argentine Republic in Bangkok, Thailand
The Embassy of the United States in Bangkok, Thailand
New York Coordinator and Records
Mandy Goodgoll, Coordinator, The Observatory on Latin America
A digital version of this document can be downloaded at:
http://www.unanticipatedfutures.blogspot.com/

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN 1
Bundit Chulasai
INTRODUCTION 3
Kerrie Butts and Nilay Mistry
SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCEMENT 6
DAY ONE: CITY EXPLORATIONS 7
DAY TWO: PAPER PRESENTATIONS SCHEDULE 15
INTRODUCTORY SPEECH 17
Brian McGrath
HISTORY ACADEMIC PAPERS
ViSiONS FOR VENiCE OF ThE EAST: MAPPiNG AND PLANNiNG OF 21
BANGKOK 1850-1950
Pirasri Poyatong

POVERTy AND MARGiNALiTy iN ThE BUENOS AiRES METROPOLiTAN 57
AREA, COExiSTENCE AND CONFLiCT, FORMALiTy AND iNFORMALiTy
Adriana Clemente, Margarita Gutman, ileana Versace, et al
TUxEDOS, LANDSCAPES, COMMUTERS AND URBAN iNTERiORS AN 91
ALTERNATiVE URBAN hiSTORy OF NEw yORK
william Morrish
SOCIAL SCIENCE ACADEMIC PAPERS
SURVEy OF CRiME REDUCTiON ThROUGh ARChiTECTURAL DESiGN: 97
A CASE STUDy OF BANGKOK METROPOLiTAN, PRAThUMwAN DiSTRiCT
Amorn wanichwiwata
(UN)ANTICIPATED FUTURES
SYMPOSIUM 2012
PROCEEDINGS
DESiGN, DiVERSiTy AND iNCLUSiON: DEBATES FOR A FUTURE ViSiON 115
OF ThE CiTy
Carolina Mera and Mónica Lacarrieu
SPECULATiVE CiTy 135
Vyjayanthi Rao
DESIGN ACADEMIC PAPERS
VANiShiNG LANDSCAPE: ThE hyDRO-AGRiCULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF 145
BANGKOK,ThAiLAND
Danai Thaitakoo, Brian McGrath, Suebsiri Srithanyarat, and ying Palopakon
ThE FORMS OF iNFORMAL. ELEMENTS OF READiNG iNCLUSiVE PROjECT 159
MANAGEMENT FROM PROjECTiVE RESEARCh
javier Fernandez Castro, juan Pablo Scaglia, Pedro Senar, and Ariel Misurac
(UN)ANTiCiPATED DESiGN FUTURES: NEw yORK 185
Brian McGrath
DAY TWO PHOTOS 193
DAYS THREE & FOUR: WORKSHOPS
iNDA PhiLOSOPhy 199
MAPPiNG ThE POST-FLOOD LANDSCAPE OF BANGKOK 200
Kerrie Butts and Nilay Mistry
ThE ARChiTECTURAL APPARATUS 208
Narin Paranulaksa and Pannasan Sombuntham
ThE ShAPE OF ThiNGS TO PASS 216
Moe Ekapod S and Camille Lacadee
SUPERSKywALK 218
Scott Drake and Preechaya Sittipunt
BIOGRAPHIES 232

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
This symposium entitled (Un)Anticipated Futures is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Thailand and Chulalongkorn University. The second day of the four-day
workshop is graciously hosted by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affair as part of its Thai-
US Creative Partnership program. The program consists of three panels consisting of
historians, social scientists and designers from Chulalongkorn University, the University
of Buenos Aires, and The New School in New York. What captivated me in the
discussion leading up to this event was the fundamental question: where are we going?
At a time of dramatic social, economic and environmental uncertainty, how can we
know how to move forward? We at the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn
University are committed to answer this question through sustained dialogues across
disciplines and national boundaries.
This event is also made possible by the planning and organization of INDA The
International Program in Design and Architecture at Chulalongkorn University. INDA
was founded in 2004 with the goals of introducing a broad, English language, non-
professional undergraduate degree in design and architecture to compliment our many
Thai language degree programs at the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn. Under
the leadership of Dr. Preechaya Sittipunt, INDA has been a hugely successful initiative
growing to more than 300 students, but also achieving a high quality of innovative
pedagogy in a short period of time. In addition to a rigorous on-campus curriculum in
design and liberal arts, the program also requires students to participated in international
workshops abroad and community design programs during the summer. INDA has also
begun a dialogue with Parsons The New School for Design about integrating strategic
design thinking into the curriculum.
I welcome you all – from Argentina, the United States, and Thailand to participate in
the dialogue during the symposium in Bangkok, and I look forward to continuing this
discussion in Buenos Aires and New York in the future.
Sincerely,
PROF. DR. BUNDIT CHULASAI
Dean of Faculty of Architecture
Chulalongkorn University
(UN)ANTiCiPATED FUTURES SyMPOSiUM PROCEEDiNGS 1
INTRODUCTION
Today
1,000,000
meters3
amount of raw sewage released
into Bangkok’s canals per day
2%
of households connected
water table floodplain 100 m to water treatment plants
1800 agricwiutlth urcea nals
0
5
18 1900 950 ro a da dditions mass transit
1 ?
BANGKOK
0
0
13°45’N 100°29’E 20
0
14,600,000 PEOPLE 05
2
ESTABLiShED 1782
2 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL
(Un)Anticipated Futures is an international Symposium bringing together research from
three universities – Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, The New School in New
York, and University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. This international collaboration
gathers historians, social researchers, and designers in a context of unprecedented
economic and ecological uncertainty. As inancial crisis and environmental disasters
appear around the globe, cross-disciplinary and international approaches are urgently
needed to address design and development in urban landscapes increasingly in lux.1
After the opportunity for cooperation between the three participating universities
materialized for a series of symposia, the format of the inaugural event was extensively
discussed by teams residing in Bangkok, New York, and Buenos Aires. A historian,
social researcher, and designer from each institution would attend and each present a
paper illustrating the urban condition of city of their respective institution. The beneits
of collaboration between the invited speakers would set expectations for future projects
between these institutions.
Through a series of meetings in Bangkok and teleconferences across several time zones,
the symposium was programmed to not only feature conventional paper presentations
but also actively engage with the host city through small workshop projects. These
workshops would enrich the curriculum of the International Program in Design and
Architecture (INDA) by directly involving undergraduate students with experienced
academics from foreign countries. The outcome would not be an imposition of
preconceived solutions or prescription of action based on a supericial reading of the
context. The format of the workshops would call for reactions to rigorously developed
student investigations by a cross-disciplinary, and trans-institutional, panel of critics.

2 (UN)ANTiCiPATED FUTURES SyMPOSiUM PROCEEDiNGS
The challenge remained to quickly introduce the new visitors to the host city, Bangkok,
in order to promote correlation of local issues with academic paper discussions. A
single day tour of sites was selected for visit by the Bangkok symposium organizers
that forms a path transecting ecological, social, and economic conditions to begin to
illustrate the complexities of modern Bangkok. This tour took place the irst day of
the visit from symposium speakers with paper presentations commencing on the second
day. Workshop critiques with the INDA program took place on the third day and
public presentation concluded the symposium on the fourth day.
This symposium is the irst of three collaborative events within the Design and Social
Development Program, which will be held in Buenos Aires and New York in 2013.
Through the analysis of similarities and differences across cities from different disciplinary
perspectives, the Design and Social Development Program focuses not primarily on the
disciplines themselves but rather on how to build a common language. The program
works at the intersection of design and social science in an effort to identify innovative
ways of interpreting urban phenomena.2
DAY ONE: A TOUR THROUGH BANGKOK
Our passage started with a vehicle ride north from the congestion of the older parts of
the city along rail routes that link the capital to the vast agrarian terrain of northern
Thailand. As the land slowly reduced in building density, pockets of fruit trees and
rice emerged between homes and large infrastructural land uses. The Don Muang
International Airport near our route was submerged only two months prior due to
widespread looding throughout the Chao Phraya River watershed. We made our irst
stop at the Bang Bua Canal Community where that lood event left unmistakable water
stains over meter above the ground.
As with many informal settlements throughout Thailand, this community had settled
along the vacant canal banks decades ago in unsafe stilt houses built from found
materials. The Bang Bua community was able to upgrade their housing through non-
proit community upgrade initiatives.3 Architects worked with residents to devise
housing typologies that supported existing social structure within the community.
Local elected leaders explained that a newly built walkway along the canal reduced the
quantities of refuse dumped in the water and reclaimed the canal as a social gathering
space. The community had gained long-term leases and low interest loans which offered
residents legal claim to the land for the irst time.
The next destination was Koh Kret, an island within the banks of the Chao Phraya
River. This land was settled by the Mon people of Myanmar after the 6th century,
predating the foundation of Bangkok by over 1000 years. The ine grain sediment
deposits from this point in the river were used in sacred pottery made and distributed
by the Mon throughout the kingdom, connecting natural landscape phenomena with
cultural heritage.4 A shipping canal dug in 1722 cut the sharp bend in the river around
Koh Kret to create the island condition seen now. Quiet pottery operations and
brick kilns on island highpoints survive as valuable tourist draws next to multistory
entertainment venues that continue to spring up along the river. Increasingly severe
lood events along the Chao Phraya River has threatened much of Koh Kret’s housing
stock and older shop structures.
The journey turned toward the old city center by means of a boat ride on the Chao
Phraya River, similar to how most trafic in Thailand reached the capital from the
north before the proliferation of highways only a few decades ago. The density of stilt
housing above the river and existence of rigid riverbank erosion infrastructure physically
exhibited political jurisdiction. Single-family homes and government ofices gave way
to contemporary condo highrises and aging warehouses as we moved downstream and
(UN)ANTiCiPATED FUTURES SyMPOSiUM PROCEEDiNGS 3
approached the capital. The magniicence of the Grand Palace and Wat Arun at sunset
signaled our return to land and we continued our tour by the modern convenience of
the elevated BTS Skytrain. From several meters above Bangkok’s inancial district, we
traced old canal right-of-ways that have been illed in to create wide city streets. The
group landed in the city’s busiest public transport station in Siam Square, known for
being one of Thailand’s premiere retail districts. 50 year-old shophouse blocks illed
with young entrepreneurs and street vendors are under threat by additional luxury
shopping mall development. Recent political protests and took place in Siam Square’s
highly visible roads that led to global media coverage.
The inal branch of our crossing through Bangkok was in the Ban Krua community
along the old San Saeb Canal. Muslim refugees from Cambodia settled in the area
in 1785 after the Kingdom of Siam granted them land for supporting efforts in the
Nine Armies War . Members of this community dug the San Saeb Canal in 1837 and
routed the waterway to avoid their mosques and cemeteries. San Saeb is one of the
few remaining water taxi routes in the city after decades of covering Bangkok canals
to add to an expanding road network. Islam remains heavily practiced in the Ban Krua
community and livestock is raised in this unlikely urban condition to supplement Halal
diets. The day was illed with an array of questions, discussions, and joy that served as
a strong and true introduction to Bangkok.
DAY TWO: PAPER PRESENTATIONS
The presentation of papers allowed guest academics to return to the territory of their
expertise and share research with symposium participants while ensuing discussions
would explore commonalities between Bangkok, New York, and Buenos Aires. Papers
on seemingly varied topics, spanning across traditionally bounded academic disciplines
relects the magnitude of components that comprise the urban condition. The three
historians presented comprehensive views of the growth of their respective cities and
each highlighted the role of images as indicators of the conception of the city throughout
time. Social researchers from Bangkok, New York, and Buenos Aires discuss behaviors
of city inhabitants in relation to crime prevention, neighborhood identity, and spatial
appropriation. Finally, the invited designers promote a future where projects of various
scales strive for inclusion and digital technology explores sustainability from physical,
social, and economic perspectives.

DAYS THREE & FOUR: STUDENT WORKSHOPS
The third day of the symposium was devoted toward the visiting academics participating
in workshops conducted by International Program in Design and Architecture (INDA)
faculty and inal year INDA students. This provided the opportunity for Chulalongkorn
University faculty to join the guest academics in relection on international design
education through the lens of architectural proposals and analyses set within greater
Bangkok. Informed by the extensive site visits throughout Bangkok and discussion
of papers with fellow symposium speakers, the visiting academics were able to make
rich connections between areas of their expertise and their developing conception
of Bangkok. Representatives from each of the three universities participating in the
symposium formed a panel of critics for the four separate workshops. Sites and scales
of interventions vary between workshop briefs that illustrate the wide possibilities
designers have to impact the future of this great city.
The four workshops expand on themes of the symposium by conceiving varied
scenarios the deine Bangkok’s unanticipated urban future. Infrastructures and services
that make life in this city possible are calibrated, re-purposed, and built new to relect
a provocative supposition of life in the city. The student group of Kerrie Butts and
4 (UN)ANTiCiPATED FUTURES SyMPOSiUM PROCEEDiNGS