AA Visiting School Bangkok
Curartistry: Creatures in Architecture
AA Visiting School Bangkok
Curartistry: Creatures in Architecture
Monday 9 December – Friday 20 December 2024
For our 11th year workshop series in 2024, we will continue a process of work entitled ‘Curartistry’, curating everyday artistry in Bangkok, which was started by the late Mark Cousins in 2016.
We will continue to explore “Creatures in Architecture”, our new theme introduced in 2023. We are interested in animals and mythological creatures as signs and representations of the cities, in mural paintings and sculptures defining the spaces in architecture at different scales. Some of these creatures are dedicated to spirit houses and shrines visible on the streets and in everyday life in Bangkok.
Singha lions, for examples, guard the thresholds of temples and houses for protection and security. Garuda, an abstraction of a hybrid creature between eagle and human resides in the netherworld Naga, is situated on the rooftop and is significant in the hierarchy of Thai traditional architecture. The specific creatures including their placement, location and representation raise the questions of tradition and belief. They also highlight the importance of craftsmanship, labour and culture.
We have chosen a number of significant sites in Bangkok for our students to visit. We have organized some of these trips with exclusive access avoiding the tourist crowd.
– Wat Pho, the most significant royal temple located at the south of the Grand Palace. We will visit the temple in the evening specially arranged for our workshop away from the daytime crowd.
– Wat Theptidaram, a temple commissioned by King Rama III of Siam in honour of his eldest daughter Princess Asporn Sudathep. The temple is composed of signs and symbols of female characteristics. The ceramic details on the principal hall’s gable are in the form of Phenix or Cygnus that represent women or princess in Chinese culture.
– Wat Ratchanatdaram, also known as the ‘temple of the royal niece’ was built at the end of the reign of King Rama III in honour of his niece. The most sacred place in the temple is the building with 37 spires, Loha Prasat, the ‘metal castle.’ We will walk up to the top of this 7 storey ‘metal castle’ to explore the various creatures of Thai culture.
– Wat Suthat, a royal temple with a complex structure imitating the heaven of God Indra. Inside the temple, mythical creatures are depicted in the mural paintings.
– Wat Benchama Bopitr, the Marble Temple designed by Prince Naris, one of King Chulalongkorn’s half-brothers, in the late 19th century. Each of the main entrances are guarded by a pair of singha lions made of Carrara marble, executed in Italy and transported to Thailand. The Temple also functions as the first Buddhist museum in Thailand.
– Prince Naris’ private residence in Klong Toey District, known as the ‘house at the bottom of the slope’ or Ban Plainern. Our students have exclusive access to this special site which is not open to the public.
– Chokenumsin spirit house factory, a production factory of miniature mythical creatures which are used as sacred elements of the spirit houses and shrines.
Observing the imaginary creatures in temples, palaces, private residences, at a particular time of the day would serve as a stimulus to start our conversation through the subjective experiences of the participants.
The tours will be led by Arthid Sheravanichkul, PhD, a renowned scholar in Thai studies. Arthid will present a talk on “Animals and Mythical Creatures in Thai literature”. He will be working closely with the students in the workshop.
There are three sets of skills that will be taught in this workshop. The first set is about documentation, such as photography, illustrations and videography. The second set of skills concerns writing to the point that the project emerges and we would expect a lot of rewriting to define the project. Lastly, we will also guide the students to equip them with curatorial skills for them to present their works to the critics with confidence.
The final outcome of the workshop will be an exhibition on the 20th of December. The final projects will be compiled into a hand bound A2 sized art book.
We would like to invite students interested in architecture, art, design and any creative minds to apply. The selected reading list and study materials will be provided and emailed to all the students two weeks before the workshop on November 29th 2024.
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Workshop venue Faculty of Architecture Chulalongkorn University: http://www.dvl.arch.chula.ac.th/exhibition-and-project-review-aa-visiting-school-bangkok-2023/
What our past students have said about our Bangkok workshop:
“The experience at the AAVS BKK is a dialogue transcending the boundaries of culture, the constraints of time, and the confines of the trivial. This course teaches more than architecture. It inspires a pair of discovering eyes, a reflective self, and liberated thinking that embraces our everyday experiences as a canvas ripe for creativity.”
Zonglei Mao 2023
“Grateful for the incredible journey with the AA architecture project and our inspiring teachers. Your guidance has been invaluable.”
Zhirui Zhang 2023
“The best experience of this visiting school for me is to sit in a place and listen to stories, seeing together the decorations and details that are pointed out. I also enjoy the free time we have, which I use to wander in the city. In Bangkok, art is not isolated in the gallery or museum. It is blended in the stories, rituals, the street corner of everyday life: the magical objects and the unexpected juxtapositions.”
Jiachang He 2023
“It’s an invaluable experience that has deeply enriched my work and architectural career. The integration of photography, poetry and conceptual art opened up a new world of storytelling, allowing me to explore uncharted creative territories within architecture.”
Rayyan Roslan 2017
“Bangkok itself oozes with life, making it the perfect place for the subject to take place.”
Richard McRae 2017
“This workshop has forever made me the person who believes there is always beauty in everything.”
Passa Sovachinda 2016
“Each location we visited served as a wellspring of inspiration, guiding me to curate and craft my final project with newfound knowledge, both directly and indirectly acquired.”
Sasicha Thongkhaoaon 2017
APPLICATIONS
1) You can make an application by completing the online application found under ‘Apply’ on the right-hand column of this webpage. https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/academicprogrammes/visitingschool/bangkok If you are not able to make an online application, please contact the Visiting School Office for instructions to pay by bank transfer.
2) Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered onto the programme. Please note that a deposit payment holds your place on the course but does not confirm it.
3) The deadline for applications is Friday 29 November 2024.
BIOGRAPHIES
Teachers
Jing Rakpanya, BArch King Monkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, MA History and Critical Thinking, the AA. Jing wrote her MA thesis on “Irony: a line of thought development”. She co-created Conduit House Limited, a fully integrated asset manager and private equity group focused on hospitality oriented real estate. She is the creative director and also focuses on real estate development as the chief business development officer. One of the current projects of Conduit House is the major renovation of the 500-room Montien Hotel, Bangkok.
M.L. Chittawadi Chitrabongs is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture Chulalongkorn University. She earned her MA and PhD degrees in Histories and Theories from the AA. Her works include “Crematoria,” submitted to the “Death, Dying and Disposal Conference” at the University of Bath; “The Politics of Dressing Up” published in the AAFiles 60 and “The Politics of Defecation in Siam of the Fifth Reign” published by JSS 99. Her book entitled Prince Naris: A Siamese Designer was published in 2017 by the Naris Foundation and Serindia Publications. Her completed design works include a collaboration on a 40-room hospitality project in Koh Chang, Trat Province, a family-run eatery and a 8-room hotel in Ayutthaya Province.
Frances H Mikuriya holds a PhD from the Architectural Association of Architecture (AA), an MSc in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, and an MSc in Adaptive Architecture and Computation from the Bartlett Graduate School. She completed her Bachelors of Architecture (BArch) degree at the University of Texas in Austin. Frances taught at the AA for 8 years in First Year, Intermediate and Diploma Schools in Histories and Theories and Intermediate Design Unit. Her PhD thesis, which focused on Nostalgia and Architecture, was nominated for the RIBA President’s award in 2012. Frances studied under the late Mark Cousins since she was a graduate student at Columbia University and she moved to London to study her PhD under his supervision. Frances’ most recent architectural design work is a 7,400 square ft high-end boutique fitness studio on High Street Kensington in London, Body Machine Performance Studio (https://www.bodymachineps.com/our-space), which she designed together with AA alumni Jorgen Tandberg MNAL in 2018-2019. Frances is also the founder and director of Body Machine Performance Studio. She is currently the director of Frances M Fitness (https://www.francesmfitness.com/about). Her long standing interest in the relationship of architecture and the human body finds twofold expression in her professional practice in both the fields of design and physical training. Frances’ passion and complementarity of the two fields have been instrumental in helping her clients optimise their fitness potentials and she has garnered top reviews from her clients and press.
Rammy Narula is a Bangkok-based business consultant, and street photographer. In 2016, his photobook “Platform 10”, a project shot on a single platform at the Bangkok Central Train Station, was published by Peanut Press, a publishing house in New York City. Fujifilm Thailand brand ambassador, A member of Street Photo Thailand, and the renowned international photography collective Burn My Eye, Rammy has mentored several workshops and is also regularly invited to share his work to encourage self discovery and finding meanings through the creative process.
Damnoen Techamai is a designer and teacher. He recently earned a PhD from the Architectural Association on “Thai weddings”. Since 2012, he has been conducting research and teaching at the Faculty of Architecture, Chiang Mai University before he applied to study for the PhD in a research programme – History and Theory Studies at the AA in 2016. He has been working as a tutor at AAVS Bangkok on Curartistry since 2018. His research interests revolving around the area of architecture and cultural anthropology, morphological and phenomenological studies, contemporary/pop culture, spaces of hybridity and the everyday.
Nattapong Phattanagosai, Master of Engineer in Membrane Structures (M.Eng.) Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dessau, Germany, co-founder of Cloud-floor Company Limited.
Donlaporn Chanachai, Master of Architecture and Performative Design (MA.APD) Städelschule Architecture Class (SAC), Frankfurt Germany, co-founders of Cloud-floor Company Limited.
Guest Lecturer
Arthid Sheravanichkul, PhD is an Associate Professor of the Department of Thai (Thai Program) and the Thai Studies Center (International Program), Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, where he has taught Thai Literature since 2004 and Thai Buddhism since 2010. His teachings focus on Thai classical, early modern literature (13th to early 20th Centuries) and Buddhist literature. Arthid’s research interests include Thai Buddhist narratives and Thai Buddhist culture. His recently published book, Jatakas and the Thai Literary Culture (2022) is based on the relations between Jatakas, the Buddha’s birth stories and Thai literary culture.
