KHLONG TOEI : STITCHING WITH THAI CULTURE

Abstract

This thesis is about creating a socially sustainable city form, bringing back a sense of local culture with the local community, while providing a better connection between the urban city and nature. The site chosen is one of the largest slum areas in Bangkok, Thailand. Khlong Toei is famous for its successful prolonged struggle against eviction, with one of the communities being a model of slum upgrading. This thesis arose as a criticism of the master plan drawn to redevelop the area in a manner which is insensitive to the context and Thai local culture. Some of the issues include the erasure of urban memory, eradicating the sense of place, a massive relocation of the slum community and the disruption of the micro-economic scene. In trying to soften the transition between the urban area in the north and the green lung of the city across the river, it is proposed that the local way of street pattern and way of life is continued. This design thesis aims to reexamine the value of local culture through retaining the existing local community, bringing back the Thai aquatic culture, the production landscape, as well as celebrate the dynamism of small-scale trade activities. This is proposed as a phenomenon that will invade the site and progressively bring back local culture, hence softening the street experience. The floating market will be used as a generator of activities that will spread from the food street, via the canal into the entire site.