Dormitory Transformation Project
Once in a while, a super challenging project come around… From several educational facilities we have been designing for Bangkok university, the Student Union building has been taking 110% effort from our team. The goal is to transform a very old dormitory into multi-program building serving students’ out-of-class activities. The building is under construction and due to finish January 2013
Design team: Pitupong Chaowakul, Jetsada Phongwasin, Kasidis Puektes, Suchart Ouypornchaisakul, Theerayut Somtua with tons of help from our trainees.
The building accommodates spaces for extremely diverse activities from photographic studios, music rehearsal rooms, Thai dance club to POMPOM dance training hall.
Our participation in Thailand Pavillion at The Venice Biennale 2012
King Bhumipol museum proposal. Ver. “Eastern way of defining public square”
Pangolin house; Architecture for future living with WATER
Our vision of Bangkok’s Public square
To be exhibited at Thailand Pavillion, La Biennale di Venezia 2013. These are the extracted model from the King Museum competition we did in 2011.
Turning childcare house into Creative Office: Project BUBU
Design team: Pitupong Chaowakul, Suchart Ouypornchaisakul, Kasidis Puektes, Gorthong Thongtaem and Phongwasin
Client: Bangkok University
Location: Bangkok University, Klueynamthai Campus, Bangkok
Year of completion: 2012
Size: 400m2
Constructor: ST. Classic
System contractor: ST. Classic
Loose furniture: IKEA
Built-in furniture: ST. Classic
Photographs: Pitupong Chaowakul
Super limited budget project can be very challenging. We have finally finished BU Branding Unit office recently after series of budget cuts. Colors have been splashed all over. The end result has surprised us however. It’s been a great fun with hundred of tear-drops.
BU Lounge has finally been completed
Design team: Pitupong Chaowakul, Suchart Ouypornchaisakul, Nuntawat Tassanasangsoon, Wattikon Kosolkit, Santi Sarasuphab and Supanna Chanpensri
Client: Bangkok University
Location: Bangkok University, Rangsit Campus, Bangkok
Photographs: Wison Tungthunya
There have been a lot of discussions about todays’ education whether it happen in classrooms, libraries, homes, cafes etc. when knowledges have been way easier to access in the era of internet and social networks. Schools and universities are adapting their environment to the new epoch. Bangkok University Student Lounge (BU Lounge aka Imagine Lounge) is among the pilot projects for that adaptation.
The lounge is located underneath the multi-story lecture rooms and auditoriums in the brand new Bangkok University Landmark compound. When the university board has decided that the compound should be mainly for students, the space that used to be professor office is reprogramed to be the lounge that accommodates a variety of student activities. This will be where students spend a lot of time in. It is a “youngsters’ ecology.”
Big portion of the lower floor of the lounge is what called the “Reading cave”. Thousand of OSB ribs form porous rooms for different forms of use, from individual reading to small group tutoring to large group discussion. In front of the cave is the “Big sofa” where the pixel units can be formed in several configurations for large/small crowd, formal/relaxing use. Almost all items in the lounge are designed to be highly flexible and hinting creative manipulations.
The space on the upper level is for more dynamic activities. It is a village for a break from study. There are 2 huts on this floor, the polka-dot pink one protruding from the edge of deck is a karaoke house and the wooden one is the music rehearsal room that can be opened in case the students would like to organize small events. Around the huts are play areas filled up with re-invented items like a super-long pool table (with adjustable holes), giant dart (which no one can miss the target), rounded pingpong table, pole dance corner, girls’ make-up counter and Kungfu style stress release area.
Students on both floors are connected by network of holes. There is one hole with glass for visual connection, one openable for drink and beverage ordering, one with fireman pole in the center for circulation and one with periscope goggle for observation. Physically these 2 decks are connected with 2 staircases; one is the step Manga (Japanese comics) shelves and the spiral staircase in the giant bear shell. Using the same principle, “it is meant to be re-invented”, the bear sculpture is graphically decorated as a panda for the moment but planned to be creatively changed to different characters every semester by students.
Superbowl Project model
Sectional model of Superbowl Project showing conceptually how people live in the multi-story linear city.
Supermachine MALAI kart
A mini project we design for TIDA, a MALAI kart (Thailand’s flower lace vendors). The kart will be part of the exhibition, TIDA Ten Plus, which will be exhibited during Architects’12 at Challenger hall 24-29 April 2012. Design team: Pitupong Chaowakul, Yupadee Suvisith and Suchart Ouypornchaisakul.
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