The “hongthaew”, the Siamese shophouse, is the most iconic architecture typology of modern Thailand. It is an extremely versatile and robust design that has survived two hundred years of urban transformations. The “hongthaew” is a mixed-breed dog, an architectural nomad, a born survivor that originated in South China and was travelled to Siam via British …
Continue reading ““The Thai Shophouse: a Bastard Typology” at ACE Journal”
My interview about the traditional Karen carpentry of St Xavier’s Oratory in Umphang has just been publiched at STIR. Very grateful to Jincy Lype for reflecting my ideas about the place of traditional crafts in the contemporary world. https://www.stirworld.com/see-features-the-organic-oratory-of-st-francis-xavier-in-thailand-raises-its-cross-up-to-the-skies
Last Tuesday I passed the Final Jury of my doctoral dissertation about urbanism and contemporary art in Southeast Asian Cities at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The jury was presided by architect Jose Luis Penelas and counted with the assistance of Dr Satanan Channowana, who travelled from Bangkok to Madrid for the occasion. Very grateful to …
The third volume of the Global Encyclopaedia of Informality published by University College London is now available. There you may find my entry about Vietnamese informal architecture, among many other very illustrative topics, including Spanish ‘enchufismo’, if you ever heard about it. The book will launch on 6th of March at the Pushkin House in …
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I’ve been now practicing Thai writing for a few months. Filled several notepads with this beautiful script and now I could say I can read headlines, social media, street signs (yes, those written in those cryptic sans-seriff typographies) and children’s books with big pictures.I started learning the alphabet from zero, letter by letter, and then …
“Holy Crab”! It is very rewarding to see St Xavier’s Church being featured in a twelve pages article by the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage (‘ASA’, Thailand’s RIBA equivalent) written by Nathanich Chaidee. The article, illustrated by the photographs Panoramic Studio, highlights the project’s blend of Karen carpentry skills and contemporary design as …
In 2020 I wrote the article “Life and Death of Hong Kong Illegal Façades” about the vanishing of Hong Kong iconic neon signs. Maybe because it was my fist academic paper, I put an spacial care on it with the valuable help of Sonjie Kennington PhD, ATT, CELTA. The article was quoted by some very …
Last week I was back in Mae Khlong Mae, a village in Umphang district, for the opening of the new dormitory for Karen children run by the Xaverian Mission in Thailand. Not a “flagship” publishable project, but a very pleasant improvement of the living conditions of the many children fleeing from the war in Myanmar. …
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We just received a printed copy of “Stone Carving for the Rising Sun: A History of the Japanese Replicas of the Salamancan University Façade and New Cathedral Nativity Portal“, an article I’ve written about a very singular project in which my dad took part. During the mid-90s, the Plateresque buildings in my hometown were reproduced …
Continue reading “A Tale of Salamanca Carvers at the Rising Sun”
Umphang district: a misty frontier Umphang is Thailand’s most remote district; it is accessible only by the scenic but tortuous Route 1090. The area is so difficult to reach that it remain as a stronghold of Thailand’s communist insurgence until the 1980’s. Its most notable touristic attraction, the Thi Lo Su Waterfalls, was ignored by …
