023_soft economy

The completion of sky train and its extensive network of elevated linkways has brought to us a new way of experiencing the city of Bangkok. It is now possible to do mall hopping without touching the street level at all. More and more shopping malls are opening their doors directly to sky train stations with the same goal in mind, to draw in commuters. Informal biz such as street vendor also benefits from this network as its newly found source of income. As I wrote on post no.006_sky shopping in http://urbanomania-id.blogspot.com, this type of business is usually illegal so the so-called product displays must be able to set up within a few minutes and to disappear within a blink of an eye. The characteristic of this kind of commercial establishment is informal, flexible and formless. Existing urban elements are usually improvised as commercial tools. See another interesting example of contextual product display from Singapore on post no.037_the self-organizing economy in http://urban-o-mania.blogspot.com.

022_coloured rice

Rice is not always white in colour. Poke your senses of taste and perception with these colourful rice grains. The colours, as advertised, are acquired from local herbs and flowers. Good news for all mamas out there, this might be a great tool for dealing with kids that don’t like to eat.

021_politicalisation of urban space

Bangkok was about to have an election for its new governor during my last trip back home. As a norm, the city was flooded with posters and billboards showing the candidates’ pictures and their supposedly sweet and promising slogans. A candidate could have his propaganda tools as close as a few metres away from each other. It is really phenomenal. The posters are parasitic by their nature. To save cost, they made use of any available vertical urban element as structural support. After each election, good-quality billboards are usually transformed into building materials for the poor in slums. Imagine how nice to have their faces on the bedroom walls and how creepy to have them in the bathroom... Especially, one of the candidates for this election is a popular good-looking local star. I’m quite certain his billboards would be well sought after. (He’s not the guy in the photo though.)

020_stone henge of bangkok

The Hopewell Project or the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS) was supposed to be a mega public transportation project for Bangkok, an integration of an existing main line railway, a light rail line from the old Don Muang Airport into town, a shopping centre corridor and an elevated highway on top. In 1998, the Thai government cancelled the project leaving the pillars standing with no use at all until today. Read more about Hopewell Project at http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/MassTransit/HopewellMain.shtml. Watch a nice short vdo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJfjHc3ErFw.

019_urban room

If the ideas of 3D city and layering of public spaces we talk about in school are real, then Bangkok is probably the best example. The city has the greatest collection of elevated RC structures featuring pedestrian crossover bridges, elevated highways, sky train tracks, elevated pedestrian link ways, elevated u-turn bridges, etc. Sometimes the applications of these urban repertoires aren’t so appropriate. The insertion of such structures into tight existing urban fabric has constituted a phenomenon which I would like to call it the ‘Urban Room’ – a room surrounded by façade walls, highway ceiling and tarmac carpet. Existing public domains have been interiorised. A certain number of previous connections are cut off making them perfect sites for the emergence of temporary/informal programs. I once attempted to explore this condition in my entry for the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition back in the year 2001. The judge, Winy Maas of MVRDV, was kind enough to show his interest in my scheme. The proposal was featured in the following media - Japan Architect no.44 p.113 (Japan), Art4d no.85 pp.28-30 (Thailand) and MVRDV KM3 / Excursions on Capacities p.469 (EU). Please check it out if you have any of these in your possession.

018_intelligent traffic sign

‘Shouldn’t have taken this road’ must be one of the most common thoughts that pops up in people’s mind when they get stuck in traffic. Wouldn’t it be nice to know in advance which routes to avoid? With that concept in mind the city of Bangkok is proud to present the Intelligent Traffic Sign (as seen on TV). As it is different form Space Syntax diagram, red colour doesn’t refer to high connectivity but, instead, high density of vehicles. It’s a wonderful attempt to lessen the traffic problem. The graphic design makes it a bit difficult to relate the road’s names to the lines but it’s forgivable given the fact that the jam is so bad that drivers have more than enough time to figure it out.

017_no valet parking

A part of strategies to mitigate the traffic problem is to encourage people using public transportations. Large parking spaces are provided at every major sky train stations to support the idea. It is an interchange of transportation modes from private to public. Cars will be parked here early in the morning and collected at the end of the day. It is quite amazing to see how people manage this without valet parking service.