Form #5 – Culture

There is more than just the human race in this world, but other creatures and nature as well. By caring for our surroundings, we can learn how to be humane, not to put humans at the center of everything, and listen to things around us.

Boonsarm Premthada will join OMAH Library this week by sharing his experience designing forms as a respond to the need of an environment which not only occupied by human, but also by other creatures. In the Elephant Museum he designed in 2015, he was inspired by local lifestyle, material, and building technique to create an upgraded space where human and elephant can live side by side as one family rather than owner and pet/labor.

Bricks as the main material in the project have the potential to strengthen the relationship between humans and nature. It can be understood through the manufacturing process that bricks are made from clay that exists in the environment.

Bricks as the main material were made from clay in the area, shaped by hand piece by piece, and gradually stacked upon each other, one layer at a time. The dug out clay left an empty space which became a water source for the elephants, humans, forests, and plant food for the elephants. Clay, once a useless material, has found a new value as it was turned into a local museum building to represent the strength of the people.

In this webinar series by OMAH Library, our focus is in the “form” aspect of the architecture. Taking into consideration what the previous panellists have presented already, the relevant and interesting question to be discussed this week would be about human relation with their environment, about how we respond to natural-cultural context, make most relevant decision and turn that into a contextual design form.