11.06.2007

More on Rirkrit's Thai pad

Chiang Mai-based architect Aroon Puritat writes in to share another photo of the house he designed for (and with) Rirkrit Tiravanija in the northern Thai provincial capital. And Bangkok-based architect/writer Rachaporn Choochuey offers her perspective on the structure, reminding us of Rirkrit's work in architecture (including his 1997 installation of a 1:2 scale model of Philip Johnson's Glass House in the courtyard at MoMA). She says Rirkrit's is "the first real 'contemporary' Thai house":
Rirkrit told us that the idea of the house is to have very simple concrete building, elevated from the ground - the least touch. The exisiting site has a lot of trees, they did not want to cut any of them. So the building is inserted in the site in a zigzaging manner among the trees around. The main space is this big, simple, rough but very strong courtyard of the house where the main activities (the kitchen, the library and the entrance). The veranda running around the courtyard, connecting everything around together is very crucial part here... Altogether, the space is very relaxing but strong...

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