INDA International Program in Design and Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University
Architectural Design IV: Fall 2011 Instructors Kerrie Butts and Nilay Mistry
Successful architecture and interventions within the urban context often rely on facilitating a multitude of programs, users, and infrastructures at varying timescales. Recognizing the cycles, networks and systems of the city create conditions for sustainable design from economic, natural and social perspectives. Increased development of static and isolated projects within Bangkok new spaces from the dynamic and sentient qualities of the common Bangkok street. Relics from past real estate booms loom near cranes assembling a new generation of single use generic condominiums and globally franchised retail outlets.
With the issues of sea level rise and political instability facing Thailand in the 21st century, new models of architecture interventions need to question existing typologies in order to accommodate a variety of demands and to maintain long term contributions to the city. Long- standing as well as recently inhabited informal settlements within Thailand exemplify adaption and ingenuity to maintain survival through a variety of socio-economic cycles. Located in relationship to a catalog of public infrastructures and land uses within Thailand, can attributes of informal settlements be enhanced to improve their interface with the formal city? This studio employs analysis of the conditions surrounding informal urbanism in Thailand and proposes architectural projects exploring flexibility, adaptation and transformation reacting to those conditions.
This studio is part of a collaborative with ETH and the internationally renowned design firm Urban Think-Tank. Students from ETH and principals of Urban Think Tank will attend a workshop with INDA studio members from October 24- 28.
Part One: Site Research and Analysis Students will begin the project by conducting thorough documentation and research of social and environmental issues pertaining to the Khlong Toei community and other informal settlements in Bangkok. Research and analysis will be documented employing various media such as maps, physical models, digital models, video documentation, and digital animation. Students will work in teams during this phase and will examine multi-scalar systems such as transportation, circulation, infrastructure networks, land use, building typologies, open space typologies, building materials, demographics, economic activities, site history, and social structure. Students will be required to routinely update a studio blog with interim analysis and data visualizations for public comment.
Part Two: Program Development and Schematic Design Conventional architectural programs will be challenged based on site analysis. Students will continue with research individually on topics of interest to establish specific intention(s) for the project.
Part Three: Design Development The final seven weeks of the semester will allow students to undergo a rigorous design process leading to a site-specific design proposal. Participation in a collaborative workshop with ETH will help to develop a clear conceptual framework to create an architectural intervention at an approved site and allow for feedback from visiting critics and students. Students will undergo pinups with invited reviewers as well engage community members for critical feedback by displaying interim design materials at the site of intervention. A review of the semester’s work will require refined architectural representation of the intervention at a minimum scale of 1:200 including plans, sections, and physical models. Students must pay particular attention to construction methodology, technologies, and phasing of the proposal to reflect on the opportunities of working within the context of informal settlement and studio focus of flexibility.
ETH- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (German: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) Department of Architecture: http://www.arch.ethz.ch/darch/index.php?lang=en Urban Think Tank: http://www.u-tt.com/home.html
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Ratipan Panpinij- BOG (Biogas station) : a new prototype of a sustainable energy saving kind
The space under the adjacent highway is used for parking, waste collection, and residential clusters. The design proposal introduces biogas as a means for sustainable energy production, income generation, and consolidates the trash that is currently abandoned along the highway/railway right of way. The biogas production includes household waste from the Lock 123 and 70 Rai community as well as 25 tons of organic waste produced daily by the nearby Khlong Toei wet market.
Garbage litters much of the Khlong Toei community’s walkways and few open spaces. Some of the material gets recycled, such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and components from old electronics, but much of the paper and organic waste is overlooked. Should the waste just be left there to rot?
After a case study of “Seed of Life” by Mekano Studio, I explored the creation of biogas and the capabilities of this energy source. Biogas is a carbon neutral fuel and produces energy just like fossil fuels but with 50% less carbon dioxide emitted during production. Biogas is produced when waste is broken down by bacteria within an airtight digester tank in the absence of oxygen. Solid byproduct of this process is a rich fertilizer which can generate no odor if handled properly. Energy and fertilizer sold from the biogas plant could generate clean energy and revenue for the community members.
My selected site for a biogas facility in the Khlong Toei community is the space under the adjacent highway to replace a popular dumping ground and is along a popular walking route to public transport. The facility, named BOG, is a prototype that can be adapted to fit near many similar communities throughout Bangkok. At a conventional petrol station, consumers purchase fuel in exchange for money. In this proposed biogas facility, people purchase energy but also help to produce it by depositing biodegradable waste. This contribution to the energy generation process for residents of Bangkok is a step toward a more sustainable way living. It is estimated that in the Khlong Toei community alone up to 10 tons of garbage could be collected per day, which could generate enough electricity for 180 homes.
How does BOG work ?
Step 1) Garbage is bought into the garbage collection center at the BOG from city residents by walking to a local drop off center or by car to the Khlong Toei facility. BOG employees also pick up waste on bicycles specially equipped with wagons that fit in the community walkways or use mini trains to haul heavy loads on the adjacent rail tracks.
Step 2) Garbage is sorted into bins for paper, glass, metal, and other non-organic materials. The material not processed on site will get collected and sold to local recycling companies. The remainder of the material is deposited in the biogas mixer. Organic waste brought by residents is weighed and cash payment is given.
Step 3) In the biogas mixer, waste goes through the inlet pipe into the digester where it decomposes over time (about 40 days) with bacteria. In the absence of oxygen the waste breaks down and produces biogas.
Step 4) This biogas gets converted into electricity by turbine and then electricity would feed into the electrical grid of Bangkok. A smaller amount of biogas gets converted into energy used for car battery charging which is a common source of electricity for local street vendors. The leftover of the waste get collected and sold as bio-fertilizer.
Architectural Design IV: Fall 2011 Instructors Kerrie Butts and Nilay Mistry
Successful architecture and interventions within the urban context often rely on facilitating a multitude of programs, users, and infrastructures at varying timescales. Recognizing the cycles, networks and systems of the city create conditions for sustainable design from economic, natural and social perspectives. Increased development of static and isolated projects within Bangkok new spaces from the dynamic and sentient qualities of the common Bangkok street. Relics from past real estate booms loom near cranes assembling a new generation of single use generic condominiums and globally franchised retail outlets.
With the issues of sea level rise and political instability facing Thailand in the 21st century, new models of architecture interventions need to question existing typologies in order to accommodate a variety of demands and to maintain long term contributions to the city. Long- standing as well as recently inhabited informal settlements within Thailand exemplify adaption and ingenuity to maintain survival through a variety of socio-economic cycles. Located in relationship to a catalog of public infrastructures and land uses within Thailand, can attributes of informal settlements be enhanced to improve their interface with the formal city? This studio employs analysis of the conditions surrounding informal urbanism in Thailand and proposes architectural projects exploring flexibility, adaptation and transformation reacting to those conditions.
This studio is part of a collaborative with ETH and the internationally renowned design firm Urban Think-Tank. Students from ETH and principals of Urban Think Tank will attend a workshop with INDA studio members from October 24- 28.
Studio Objectives
The semester-long studio will be divided into three segments with specified goals.Part One: Site Research and Analysis Students will begin the project by conducting thorough documentation and research of social and environmental issues pertaining to the Khlong Toei community and other informal settlements in Bangkok. Research and analysis will be documented employing various media such as maps, physical models, digital models, video documentation, and digital animation. Students will work in teams during this phase and will examine multi-scalar systems such as transportation, circulation, infrastructure networks, land use, building typologies, open space typologies, building materials, demographics, economic activities, site history, and social structure. Students will be required to routinely update a studio blog with interim analysis and data visualizations for public comment.
Part Two: Program Development and Schematic Design Conventional architectural programs will be challenged based on site analysis. Students will continue with research individually on topics of interest to establish specific intention(s) for the project.
Part Three: Design Development The final seven weeks of the semester will allow students to undergo a rigorous design process leading to a site-specific design proposal. Participation in a collaborative workshop with ETH will help to develop a clear conceptual framework to create an architectural intervention at an approved site and allow for feedback from visiting critics and students. Students will undergo pinups with invited reviewers as well engage community members for critical feedback by displaying interim design materials at the site of intervention. A review of the semester’s work will require refined architectural representation of the intervention at a minimum scale of 1:200 including plans, sections, and physical models. Students must pay particular attention to construction methodology, technologies, and phasing of the proposal to reflect on the opportunities of working within the context of informal settlement and studio focus of flexibility.
Workshop with ETH Zurich and Urban Think Tank
Activities during the workshop will include explorations of Bangkok, site visits, design charrette, meetings with community leaders, and a public discussion. INDA students will also present interim site analysis and program development to the ETH team and join in roundtable discussions about the future of Bangkok.ETH- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (German: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) Department of Architecture: http://www.arch.ethz.ch/darch/index.php?lang=en Urban Think Tank: http://www.u-tt.com/home.html
Student Work
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| Conceptual Site Model by Nitayaporn Sithiprasasana |
Ratipan Panpinij- BOG (Biogas station) : a new prototype of a sustainable energy saving kind
The space under the adjacent highway is used for parking, waste collection, and residential clusters. The design proposal introduces biogas as a means for sustainable energy production, income generation, and consolidates the trash that is currently abandoned along the highway/railway right of way. The biogas production includes household waste from the Lock 123 and 70 Rai community as well as 25 tons of organic waste produced daily by the nearby Khlong Toei wet market.
Garbage litters much of the Khlong Toei community’s walkways and few open spaces. Some of the material gets recycled, such as aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and components from old electronics, but much of the paper and organic waste is overlooked. Should the waste just be left there to rot?
After a case study of “Seed of Life” by Mekano Studio, I explored the creation of biogas and the capabilities of this energy source. Biogas is a carbon neutral fuel and produces energy just like fossil fuels but with 50% less carbon dioxide emitted during production. Biogas is produced when waste is broken down by bacteria within an airtight digester tank in the absence of oxygen. Solid byproduct of this process is a rich fertilizer which can generate no odor if handled properly. Energy and fertilizer sold from the biogas plant could generate clean energy and revenue for the community members.
My selected site for a biogas facility in the Khlong Toei community is the space under the adjacent highway to replace a popular dumping ground and is along a popular walking route to public transport. The facility, named BOG, is a prototype that can be adapted to fit near many similar communities throughout Bangkok. At a conventional petrol station, consumers purchase fuel in exchange for money. In this proposed biogas facility, people purchase energy but also help to produce it by depositing biodegradable waste. This contribution to the energy generation process for residents of Bangkok is a step toward a more sustainable way living. It is estimated that in the Khlong Toei community alone up to 10 tons of garbage could be collected per day, which could generate enough electricity for 180 homes.
How does BOG work ?
Step 1) Garbage is bought into the garbage collection center at the BOG from city residents by walking to a local drop off center or by car to the Khlong Toei facility. BOG employees also pick up waste on bicycles specially equipped with wagons that fit in the community walkways or use mini trains to haul heavy loads on the adjacent rail tracks.
Step 2) Garbage is sorted into bins for paper, glass, metal, and other non-organic materials. The material not processed on site will get collected and sold to local recycling companies. The remainder of the material is deposited in the biogas mixer. Organic waste brought by residents is weighed and cash payment is given.
Step 3) In the biogas mixer, waste goes through the inlet pipe into the digester where it decomposes over time (about 40 days) with bacteria. In the absence of oxygen the waste breaks down and produces biogas.
Step 4) This biogas gets converted into electricity by turbine and then electricity would feed into the electrical grid of Bangkok. A smaller amount of biogas gets converted into energy used for car battery charging which is a common source of electricity for local street vendors. The leftover of the waste get collected and sold as bio-fertilizer.