PTT METRO URBAN FOREST BY SPACETIME ARCHITECTS BUILDS FROM THE GROUND UP, USING EARTH ITSELF TO NURTURE AN AWARENESS OF NATURE AMONGST CITY DWELLERS.
The concept behind PTT Metro Urban Forest project is rooted in an aim to increase greenery and nurture a conscious awareness of nature amongst city dwellers. The site of the project comprises some 12 acres of land, seventy-five percent of which are covered in natural forests, with ten percent of the area being covered with water resources and the remaining land housing a multipurpose area and exhibition venue.
PTT Metro Urban Forest, Image © Krittin Rodmanee
The project utilizes a plant ecology method where native species of trees of varying types and heights are grown on mounds of earth with small streams of water encircling them, resulting in the creation of islands. Additional mounds are further located on the outer boundaries as well. The forested area features a pathway built on iron pillars that slowly elevates, leading us to a tower set on the highest point of the forest, some 23 meters high.
The overall scheme of the project aimed to allow for one to move along visually from a very densely built exhibition structure to the observation tower constructed from pieces of metal that rise vertically while widening at the top. However, what truly linked these two components together was the natural forest itself.
The design of the exhibition venue features a single-storey elongated building, with the central area of the structure being made up of curved earth walls. At the rear external area of the building one finds another curved earthen wall, separating the building from the forest, and, in the opposite direction, hidden behind the building, sits a staircase allowing access to the rooftop.
In terms of process, the rammed earth walls are raised by collecting soil from various parts of Thailand, the colors differentiating according to the sources they originate from. The patterns, colors and coarseness of the texture further display irregularities created by manual labor and erode with time revealing yet another artistically beautiful side – the building intermingling with the nature while at the same time revealing itself architecturally as well.
