ABSOLUTELY A TIME MACHINE!

The beginning of Bangkok Publishing Residence stems from the love for, and connection of, a family’s printing business that later inspired the renovation of the Bangkok office’s printing house on Lan Luang road into a hotel. Panida Tosnaitada, a third generation owner of Bangkok Publishing House, initially wanted to preserve the six units of the four-story shophouses as a museum where the history and works of Bangkok Publishing House could be brought together and exhibited. But with the potential of the location and the need for the business to be self-sufficient, Tosnaitada decided to combine the commercial functionality of a hotel into the program of a museum by limiting accommodation to eight rooms and choosing to curate the ambience of the space to be filled with the stories of printing in Thailand, as well as installation artworks under the 4Bs concept or Bed, Book, Breakfast and Beat.

A team of engineers and architects led by Saran Soontornsuk and Pongsakorn Kitkajornpong worked together toward the transformation of the building’s rather dense original structure (due to the functionality of the printing house) to be more spacious and ventilated. The ceilings of the four floors were opened, creating a foyer of spectacular spatial flow where every floor is physically and visually connected. The massive openings are located on the building’s interior walls, allowing for natural light to enter in through the industrial-styled window walls, warming and welcomingly bringing not only brightness to the first floor area but also a physical linkage between the interior spaces and the outdoor ambience. Walking past the wall into the inside of the building, one will come across the hotel’s lobby lounge. This particular area is used to host special concert sessions by independent artists. When entering the adjacent foyer, waiting is the area where breakfast is served with another lounge for the hotel guests surrounded by reading desks and towering bookshelves, simulating the atmosphere when the place was occupied by its previous activities back in the old days. The shelves store original copies of the works published by Bangkok Publishing House and other contemporary books, including photographs and personal artifacts of the previous generation’s owners.

The transition area in the lobby lounge that leads to the private space inside

The eclectic interior decoration stands out with its mixed style of furniture, from the primitive folk craft details of the chairs that are set side by side with the modern leather sofa to the combined aesthetics of the Art Deco and Oriental pieces, be they Chinese, Balinese or Thai. The mixture of styles where items from different places and times meet and mingle in the seemingly unintentional pattern creates a sense of wonder within the space, stimulating users’ interest in the presence of these decorative elements.

Tosnaitada’s personal attraction to books is in the way they reflect the attentiveness of the creators, whether through the content or the details of the production. Bangkok Publishing Residence’s narratives are meticulously created in a manner similar to the way they put a book together and, with Prakamkrong Pongpaiboon serving as the designer of the content and exhibition concept, the information the team obtained through the study of the area’s historical background can also be experienced. The content is divided into (1) Bangkok Publishing Company (2) Lan Luang neighborhood and (3) publications and printing machines. The data is transformed into the curatorial concept that directs the selection and installation of the exhibited objects as stories are interwoven in as a part of the hotel’s space. Among the exhibited items are such as the original copies of Bangkok Magazine, one of the publishing house’s most memorable works, which the hotel’s guests can flip through (and are kindly asked to wear gloves when touching). The miniature replicas of musical instruments placed among other decorative objects convey the entertaining characteristics of Lan Luang neighborhood in the past while the quotes from classical Thai literature published in the same time period as Bangkok Magazine are displayed on the walls in the form of neon signs. Everything has and tells its own story with the core structure of the narrative being presented according to the timeline, from the ground to the upper floors of the hotel as the program of the exhibition is designed for visitors to experience the narrative chronologically. In addition to ‘books’ and ‘reading,’ ‘writing’ is also what Tosnaitada holds in high regard and can be seen integrated in as a part of the decorative element such as the presence of a writing desk and a stationary set or the interior design of the hotel’s rooms where gimmicks related to old printing techniques are included.

Bangkok Publishing Residence is, without a doubt, a valuable piece of design from the way the history of printing and the Lan Luang neighborhood that served as a hangout spot for writers and folks from the publishing industry back in the 50s are beautifully preserved and portrayed, to the attentively curated experience of the ‘place’ where visitors are taken on a journey, into memories from a glorious time in someone’s life.