FIGHTING AMNESIA : DESIGN AS RESISTANCE

Abstract

My research trip seeks to investigate whether Architecture and its design elements can be used as a vehicle of change in a country’s political and social landscape. More specifically, it will look into the notion of design fabric represented as tools of suppression or as a platform for resistance against their oppressors .If architecture is indeed, as Aldo Rossi (1982), suggests serves simultaneously as a site, event and a sign, does it also have a role in promoting resistance or suppression? Taking advantage of the geopolitical history in Thailand, the research looks into the city of Chiang Rai, a formal Lanna city state, situated in the Northern part of Thailand. Due to political intentions, Sukhothai and Ayuttaya have come to stand in the official historical narrative as the two earliest incarnation of the modern nation state even though historically their suzerainty never exceeded present-day central Thailand. Moreover they were coeval to powerful kingdoms both in the north of Central Pain (Lanna City States) and in the Peninsular Siam (Pattani).After centuries of wars, present-day Thailand is actually an assimilation of different Kingdoms, with the Lanna states being the last to be officially integrated into Siam in the 18th century. Nevertheless, after assimilation, the Lanna states maintained their sovereignty and independence until the late 19th century. This was due in part to geographical reasons and lack of interest from the Bangkok officials. Subsequently, with external pressures from colonial powers and internal political administration changes, a consolidation of power was created in Siam’s capital, Bangkok. Changes in the political, social and economical structures also altered the design fabric of the Lanna states, often leading to a break from formal traditional practices. In contemporary history, a bloodless coup was forged against the absolute monarchy in 1932; active promotion of a Thai identity ensued. Chiang Mai officially became a province state of Thailand while Lanna ceased to exist as a political entity even though her regional identity remained an undeniable fact. Employing the framework of a ‘Design Resistant/Suppression’ theory which will be established and elaborated in Chapter 1, my research will investigate whether forms of resistance or suppression can be identified in and translated though the language of design. This includes exploring different design fabrics (such as colour, form, space, ornament, and structure) of various scales (ranging from objects, buildings, settlements, city, region to the universe). More precisely, I will focus on investigating the different layers of urban fabric in Chiang Rai and the architectural works of the city’s two prominent artists, Thawan Duchanee and Chalermchai Kositapipat.