THE OTHER’S PLACE by Ekaphap Duangkaew
About the speaker...
- A Chiang Mai native (Thailand).
- Live in an artistic family environment (his father is a sculptor).
- Founder of EKAR (2014-present).
- Co-founder of NOTDS (none other than design studio) 2009-2014 with architectural design experiences in various typologies both public buildings and residential projects.
- Graduated in Architecture at Chiang Mai University, and he is now the principal of EKAR.
About EKAR...
- Believes the architecture is originated from a perfect mixture of beautiful aesthetic senses and functional usability.
- Nature, society, culture, behavior, taste and time are reflected in a unique architectural work.
- Every piece of EKAR creation is like a research combining science and art together to bring out proper design efficiency, creating a sense of place which will lead to positive changes and expand to the whole society.
T-House
Old Building
This is the first project that handled by Ekaphap. The client was living in a very bad condition. Therefore they asked Duangkaew's help to reorganized their space. The challenge of this project is to bring all of this space in a place.
The main function of T-house were created to support her family business, a cloth wholesaller from Pratunam District. To maintain the circulation of the old house, the new building needed to be not just only a residence for an expanding family plus a small garment storage, but also needed to include an additional space for a new office and prepare an area for a further phase of family extension.
Building Space
Ekaphap try to analyse the space and come out with the solution for the limited space. Different types of the window represented different types of function in the building. Bigger size of window is used in the office area to have nicer view and they need light during work, while dining space they used a smaller window as they do not need any view.
The whole building look like a white cube, the white colour wall can reflect the sunlight to make the space look nicer.
Jai Baan
'Jai Baan' or a heart of the house locating perfectly at the heart of this two-storey dwell. This centered piece is composed of two crossing staircases functioning to connect all rooms on the second level, the main working area on the ground floor and the executive office on the second floor. Another staircase is connect to the private spaces; living area, bedrooms, kitchen of the first floor, and two bedrooms on the second floor.
Sofa Design
The clients like the traditional Thai stool while Ekaphap would like to create something new. He tried to design the sofa with the combination of traditional and modern that can be used for different function.
External Facade
The exterior is shaped despite the pure geometric form to reflect each function straightforwardly inside out. The finalized building design had to be simple and literally symmetry. They make the form of the building following the weather condition and have to make sure the building would not receiving direct sunlight from the West. High-pitched roof is designed to avoid the natural sunlight.
Multi-Place
The Site
The building is located at Surat Thani, Mueang Surat Thani District, Surat Thani, Thailand. The site actually is along the main road. Issues that need to be considered is the pollution of air and noise. The shophouse in Thailand usually added curved steel on the facade of the building for security purpose and this may slowly covered up the windows and openings.
Clients
The client is two brother-in-law with background in pharmacist and veterinarian who once lived apart and had one own clinic, decided to buy a narrow land in a heart of Surat Thani for living together and commercialized purpose.
Space
Duangkaew maximized the limited space of the land to support the clients’ businesses, including pharmacy, veterinary clinic, pets shop, hostel, cafe and rental meeting rooms. Also, he separated residential areas into two for two families needed to portray a detached house-like feeling to this mix use buildings.
According to clients’ requirement, they want to separate their residential space from each other so Duangkaew designed a split area as boundary between public area and private area. This split area is converted into a peaceful garden in which brought a natural sunlight into the massive architecture.
Sense of Belonging
The wooden block which joint with the concrete block which act as the handrail for different scale (adult and children). Duangkaew said the client very love this part of the building.
Facade
The garden’s walls is build by easy-to-find glass blocks that can allow the sunlight can enter through and created dynamic shadow effects. It can hide their own privacy from the prying eyes as well as dust and noise pollution became the best solution for the facade.
Regen House
ReGen House also known as regeneration house. The client own a land where a few generation of his family living in a same compound.
The building is surrounded by vegetation and act as a connection to the parents’ and grandparents’ house.
The East side of the building facing the condo.
Temple Washroom
This project is to design the temple washroom in Thailand. Because temple is a peaceful place, Duangkaew was asked to design the washroom for the public with easy access.
Q & A
Question 1
Question : How do you start up your firm?
Answer : I join a competition and won in New York. You have to have passion in architecture to be success. After that, the competition is published in Thailand magazines so the first client contacted him, which is the T-House owner. The young architects do not be afraid to try, there will be a lot opportunity out there.
Question 2
Question : What is the production and progress when you doing design?
Answer : Before I start design, I have to determine the purpose of the architecture. I always ask myself, "what is it build for?''. Then find out the answer or solution to the issue. Lastly, architecture is not just about the building, it's more about the core value.
Question 3
Question : What advise can you give to the young architect?
Answer : You have to be brave and have to know about yourself first. When you are stuck in designing, try to make it simple first as you do not have enough experience. Architecture require a lot of practice and philosophy. I have worked for 5 years in a firm in Thailand to gain experience. At the same time, I worked as freelancer as well throughout this 5 years.
Question 4
Question : Does weather in Thailand influenced your architecture? Is it a big factor to be considered in your architecture?
Answer : Yes, because Chiang Mai has chill season also. But for me, culture is the main aspect instead of climate. The way Chiang Mai people think is different from the city. They love art and beauty of nature. Every 100 meter you can find a temple in Chiang Mai. They respect the nature and understand the context. I would say that Chiang Mai has the "spirit".
Question 5
Question : Who is the architect influenced you the most?
Answer : There is an architect style that I referred a lot which is Vo Trong Nghia , a Vietnam architect. But now, I try to learn and use my own ways in designing and thinking.
Question 6
Question : How do you differentiate you and your partners' work?
Answer : We only have 8 people in my firm. Me myself and my partner, together with 6 staffs. There is no specific role for each person. We share our thought and knowledge together. And these help us balance each other.
Reference
http://www.archdaily.com/535238/t-house-notds
http://www.archdaily.com/805560/multi-place-ekar
https://www.evensi.com/pam-dls-07-the-others-place-by-ekaphap-duangkaew-black-box/228965483