ART4D TALKS TO KULTHIDA SONGKITTIPAKDEE ABOUT THE PATH SHE HAS CHOSEN FOR HERSELF, AND ALL THE INTERESTING STORIES THAT HAVE HAPPENED ALONG THE WAY. FROM THE ONLY ARCHITECT WHO HAS BEEN CHOSEN IN THE RENZO PIANO BUILDING WORKSHOP TO THE NEW CHAPTER OF HER VERY OWN OFFICE CALLED HAS DESIGN AND RESEARCH
TEXT & PHOTO: NAPAT CHARITBUTRA
(For Thai, press here)
A series of photographs documenting my journey to visit a Taiwanese friend on Matsu Islands, an archipelago of 36 islands and islets that’s about an 8-hour boat ride from Taiwan and less than 30 minutes away from China. The trip took place in the time when Thai media’s news coverages on the Taiwan-China conflict were more frequent and intense than ever.
The observation points built on almost every cliff on the islands house old military bunkers overlooking rocky shores, endless aquatic mass and waves and herds of goats with windmills owned by China visible from a distance. Several military bases are still active while some have been turned into locally-run hostels and cafes. My Taiwanese friend told me how mountains on the island were heavily drilled into holes for the military to transport weapons in the case roadways were damaged. As I listened to the story, my eyes caught the sight of people, both locals and tourists, going on about their days, like any other ordinary day. “They’re used to this kind of life; the life trapped between the war in the past and the war that hasn’t come.”
Looking at this set of photographs again when I’m back in Thailand, the story and memories feel strangely distant, like something out of a Wikipedia page. The pictures are informative and don’t tell anything much more than the islands’ geographical conditions. The feelings made me ask myself, “What do I actually know about Taiwan?”
Most people spend their entire life trying to understand their own countries; their own roots and birthplaces. Spending merely nine months in Taiwan and the 9 days I spent traveling around Matsu Islands, I don’t dare say that I know more about Taiwan than most Thai people. But it frustrates me every time I hear someone casually say, ‘Taiwan and China are about to start a war, you know,’ and they somehow make war sound so nonchalant.
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Napat ‘Mai’ Charitbutra is a writer and a post-graduate student who studied Creative Industries Design in Tainan, Taiwan.
DNA_DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE REVITALIZES 9 ABANDONED STONE QUARRIES BY TRANSFORMING THEM INTO CULTURAL SPACES THROUGH REFURBISHING AND TRANSFORMING THE EXISTING SITE INSTEAD OF CONSTRUCTING AN ENTIRE NEW BUILDING, ALLOWING THE ARCHITECTURE TO TELL THE STORY OF HAND-MINING CULTURE BY ITSELF
APART FROM BEING A PLACE WHERE CHILDREN CAN LEARN AND BROADEN THEIR VIEW AND IMAGINATION OF THE WORLD THROUGH BOOKS, THIS LIBRARY DESIGNED BY CONDITION_LAB & UAL STUDIO ALSO ENABLES CHILDREN TO APPRECIATE THEIR HOMETOWN’S VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE, WHICH WILL BE FORGOTTEN SOON
THIS TIME OF VIEWS BY KULTHIDA SONGKITTIPAKDEE AND JENCHIEH HUNG LOOKS TOWARD PUBLIC UTILITY BUILDING PROJECTS FROM NODE ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM WHICH RAISES AN IMPORTANT QUESTION ‘HOW CAN ARCHITECTURE MOBILIZE A CITY?’
KULTHIDA SONGKITTIPAKDEE AND JENCHIEH HUNG INVESTIGATES THE OCCURRENCE OF ‘FORM’ IN SCENIC ARCHITECTURE THROUGH SOME PART OF 12 PROJECT’S ANALYSIS IN THE BOOK ‘THE REBIRTH OF FORM-TYPE’, REVEALING THE EVOLUTION AND PIVOT OF CHINESE ARCHITECTURE SINCE THE 2000s
ART4D HAS A CONVERSATION WITH ATTAPORN KOBKONGSANTI, A FOUNDER OF TROP : TERRAINS + OPEN SPACE, ABOUT PROJECTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE, THE CURRENT TREND OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN, AND THE FUTURE OF TROP : TERRAINS + OPEN SPACE
INTEGRATING THE FLOATING GARDEN, BICYCLES AND PEDESTRIAN LANES, AND LOCAL CULTURE, YUANDANG BRIDGE FROM BREARLEY ARCHITECTS + URBANISTS (BAU) REFLECTS THE IDENTITY OF YUANDANG LAKE UNDERNEATH THROUGH WINDING SHAPE
