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If you own a piece of land right in the city center of Bangkok and do not have any idea what to do with it or no capital to invest yet, you could easily start making money while waiting by turning it into parking lots. Parking space is always in demand. Temporary and illegal parking can be found all over the city. Most of the time it happens under the new open space created by elevated expressways. The existing circulations of the neighborhood are erased by the monstrous structure. Paths and directions are unclear and rerouted everyday as these cars randomly occupy the space. This is an example to show that a size of parking lot may not need to be 2.4 by 4.8 meters. Whatever architectural standard would be thrown out of the window when it comes to necessity.
When an urban superstructure cuts through a neighborhood, theoretically speaking, it physically breaks the neighborhood’s entity into 2 parts. But, in reality, it helps loosen up the tight built-up surface of the community. Space underneath the mega structure is commonly used as neighborhood’s communal area. Want to have a BBQ this weekend? Please RSVP early and BYOB!
With a little effort and time invested on observation, interesting patterns of the space’s adaptive reuses reveal. First, in the morning, homeless people staying overnight occupied the area. Then, in the afternoon while the sun was blocked by the expressway above, the space turned into a playground. The type of sports and the area used were limited under the shade. Homeless moved further to the far end. Finally, in the evening after working hours, the number of participant increased and the activities continued till late at night because of the freedom of playing without getting conflict with traffic.
The space underneath expressway is terrain vague. It is open, vast and empty, an untamed urban landscape welcoming all possibilities to take place. The new programs emerge here are usually temporary, haphazard and heavily dependent on their surrounding context.
