2011, 2016
The divergent values of modernity and tradition still embraced simultaneously by the majority of Thai middle-class and other non-western societies today has affected architectural culture and production since, at least, the 19th century. This research has situated and examined the phenomenon of half-timbered architecture as designed by HSH Prince Vodhyakara Varavarn as illustrative of the architectural issues related to these divergent values in Thailand during the 1930s and 1950s.
By analysing archival materials drawn from the architectural field and also from public and private accounts, it discusses the development, promotion and reception of half-timbered buildings and demonstrates how architectural practice and an architecture that neither appear to be stylistically modern nor traditional Thai now were advanced in relation to issues surrounding modernity and tradition, and played a part in the modernisation of Thailand during the 1930s and 1950s.
A part of this research in progress back in 2011 was published as “A Tudor House in Bangkok: HSH Prince Vodhyakara Varavarn’s House at 42 Soi Tonson”, (2011), Nakhara Journal of Environmental Design and Planning, v.7, Oct 2011, Bangkok: Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, pp.73-88. It can be downloaded here:
https://ph01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/nakhara/article/view/104976
This research was finally part of Chomchon Fusinpaiboon’s PhD research and dissertation. It was later edited and published as the book Alternate Moderns: The Half-timbered Architecture of HSH Prince Vodhyakara Varavarn in Thailand, 1930s – 1950s (Bangkok: Department of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, 2016). Copies are available for purchase at the Department of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University.
DRFJ 