architecture buzz!!

Courtesy Fars Studio Co.,Ltd.

Thailand-based firm Fars Studio has been named the winner in a national design competition for the Chao Phraya River Memorial and Museum in Nakorn-Sawan, Thailand. The competition was held by the Nakorn-Sawan Municipality and the Association of Siamese Architects to create a landmark symbol for the significance of the river in this region.At the confluence of four tributaries – - the Ping, Wang,Yom and Naan River – - the Chao Phraya River begins and forms itself as the largest and bloodline river in Thailand. Nakorn Sawan Municipality and theAssociation of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage (ASA) launch this landmark competition to commemorate and to highlight the symbol of this River at the particular spot where it begins. This site has an extraordinary context: during the flood season, up to 9 meters differentiate between the low and high tide. The river on the Northern side of the island has a green color while the Southern side is red. After the confluence of both tributaries, the green and red colors still keep tracking along the Chao Phraya River to create a resonance stripe. This significant area not only has a colorful phenomenon but is also intertwined with the history of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, this area has been abandoned for quite a long time, as a result of the very different levels of the tide.

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Diagram Courtesy Fars Studio Co.,Ltd.

This landmark is designed to be situated on the tip of the island where the confluence takes place.  This is to revitalize the area while attracting both local people and tourists from elsewhere. In our opinion, the site itself is already a potential landmark; and that it just only needs a highlight in the form of an element that looks as modest as possible. Our purpose is to reflect the River’s chronicle, tradition and quality of life of the city based on the following conditions:

Courtesy Fars Studio Co.,Ltd.

Firstly, inside the Yom island, architecture becomes a complement to the nature; nothing can explain how beautiful the nature better than the river itself. In one axis, parallel to the River’s resonance stripe, we optimize numerous locations, elevation at appropriate angles on the site for people to perceive all the sceneries of the Rivers. In one route, the architecture leads the people to each interesting spot of key locations, such as:  the point where people see two rivers all together; the point where people can see the whole city around the area; and the point where people enjoy the scenery confluence.

Secondly, from the outer side of the island, the architecture becomes a symbol the river, in the form of weaving stripes. The bridge-like architecture accentuates visual connection between both sides of the

River, while actually creating physical connection between them allowing people to sail through, thereby making the visual connection alive during the high tide period: From symbol to physicalness.

Courtesy Fars Studio Co.,Ltd.

For us, the essence of the traditional Thai architectures is the attention their designers paid to the quality of the human scale. Therefore, we generate the form out of the two (2) above-mentioned conditions, the constraints and the outline pattern based on the perspective of Thai artistic/architectural elements.  They altogether form into the shape of the weaving stripes. Due to the availability of the local construction technology and the materials to provide appropriate resistance to the flood, concrete is a major structure on the area between the high and low tides; and steel is for the rest.The cladding for the stripes is a combination between copper panel and wood.

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About Fars Studio

Fars Studio established itself in the year 2009 by winning one of the most significant design projects in Thailand, which will turn into a landmark of the country.

As a Thailand-based multi-disciplinary design studio, Fars Studio is specialized on architecture, interior architecture, product and graphic design, especially a memorial/ museum type of architecture. In order to satisfy the world standards, we constantly practice ourselves through several competitions. As a small team with 6 members, enriched with work experiences at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (New York), and A49 Bangkok, Thailand), we have been working for projects in several countries, such as India, China, Vietnam, Turkey and the USA.