Redesign the Thai universe layout into a Furnish studio art studio

Pong-Kantinan Na Nakorn, an architect from 11.29, and Bow-Pantita Meebunsabai, an oil painting artist, have had the same artistic approach since their school days. When Bow intended to establish furnish studio in Rayong, she convinced Pong to design the building to function as an art space, a gallery, and a leisure place by drawing inspiration from the universe, an industrial estate, and Bow’s agricultural family’s background.

The building that could ventilate oil paint fume

Artists require a space in which to paint oil paintings and work in other disciplines of art, therefore the studio must be wide, open, and well-ventilated since oil paints contain fumes that are damaging to health, as well as having adequate natural light. In addition, insects and reptiles could be found due to the agricultural context. As a result, structures must be elevated above ground level and equipped with light bulbs as needed.

Developed from the cosmic layout

Since this building relies largely on wind and natural light, the architect chose a Thai temple cosmic plan in which entrances are on the X and Y axis (centralized) on all four sides, facing the building in the east-west direction and a crosswind direction. The axial line is directed towards the focal point of the building, while only bringing the universe layout to be developed in a decentralized way or dismantling the original components and rearranging the composition. Therefore, this building is designed to have a single entrance axis and allow all four sides of the building to be open for the wind and natural light as in the previous day.

The Khong Arch, or the arched entryway, is the most essential feature of the universe layout, with most of the planes above your head. However, because this building desires to get the maximum wind, the entrance is adjusted to be flanked by vertical planes instead, causing the wind to change direction and flow more into the structure.

“Sine Rayong’s context includes both industrial estates and agriculture, which are very different, I also want the design theory to seem different. As a result, I redeveloped the Thai-style cosmic theory using a decentralized or deconstruction technique, which is a Western theory, in the design. The square plan of the universe pattern was penetrated by the entry hall plane, changing the squareness of the Thai temple style. Also, the living room shifts the focus of an art workspace. I believe that we can have many highlights. Alternatively, combining diverse elements is another technique to produce a distinguishing characteristic.”

The architect designed the entrance to be asymmetrical on both sides. The left door is small for normal use and the right door is larger for easy transport of art. All of the doors are perforated with small holes to allow the wind to pass through all day.

The core leads to the artwork space, where the furniture is laid out in an open plan style and the ceiling is elevated so that enormous pieces of art may be painted, and is complemented by a living room, a storage place for books, and art toys to make it seem as comfortable as staying at home.

What gives the clear impression of a cosmic layout is the veranda surrounding the building which acts as a barrier to light and rain from directly colliding with internal functions. It serves as an art gallery space that can be viewed throughout the day. There is also a bathroom that has skylights to illuminate and position the sanitary ware to fit the artist’s proportions. This emphasizes that this space belongs to the artist only.

Bamboo openings that reflect the owner’s upbringing

Since the artist grew up in a farming household, the architect opted to arrange bamboo, an easy-to-find material in the surrounding farming community, as a pattern on the entire building’s opening. Bamboo panes control the interior spaces, allowing them to be closed when privacy is required and opened when wind, light, natural sound, and the context of agriculture are desired. The bamboo panes may also be tilted to the desired angle to enable just the right amount of natural light to enter when working on art.

“Bamboo is an interesting material because it is lightweight, creates a natural look for the building, and is also inexpensive when used until the end of its life. Every time we replace the bamboo, we can play a part in supporting small farmers in another way.”

Concrete Spacer Wall, Rayong’s Time Capsule

One of Rayong’s most iconic images is a large industrial estate that often throws away concrete spacer balls during construction. The architect, therefore, uses cylindrical concrete spacers to design a wall enclosing the entrance that arranges a rhythmic stack pattern, yet providing a feeling of solidity and safety before entering the interior space that changes the feeling into airiness and relaxation.

“Some of the concrete spacers have a date or origin written on them, reflecting that the studio has kept a time capsule during this time in Rayong.”

The roof is based on the surrounding context

When looking at the distance, you can see that the roofs on both sides of the building are not equal because the architect wanted the building to reflect the context of the area by having the roof on the left elevated against the neighbor’s steep slope roof and creating a void to the internal bathroom. The roof on the right creates an elongated roof plane as the neighbors on this side are quite far away and creates a void to brighten the storage room. 

Storytelling through an art studio

The architect attempted to take everyone to explore the roots of Thainess through the layout of the universe, as well as to explore the industrial estates in Rayong Province and finally to learn about the owner’s background as an agriculturist, which is a combination of stories to create an interesting space and consists of functions that meet the needs of artists in every part.

“Telling each part of the story into architecture is quite challenging because each story is complex, making the design and construction difficult as well. But fortunately, the artist allowed us to work with his full potential, so this piece came out perfectly as I envisioned.”

Writer
Watsapon Vijitsarn

Watsapon Vijitsarn