Published: “White Palaces over Rice Fields”

Here is my article “White Palaces over Rice Fields” about 1970s corporate architecture in Thailand. With the rise of Thai Farmer´s Bank (today Kasikorn), new and modern bank branches were built in every provincial town. While resembling the bank’s logo —a rice plant—, these buildings also looked half-way Gothic and were, after the spires of the temples, the most prominent sights in every village. Other institutions, like Krung Thai Bangk —represented by the Varupak bird—, also resorted to build their own logo-buildings.
Taking the title form Ruth McVey’s “Money and Power in Rural Thailand”, I remain very grateful to photographer Beer Singnoi, who’s is devoted to documenting Thai Brutalist architecture, for his splendid images. [for now, text only Spanish:]