The Bleak Bliss of Bang Rak
SCCD×Commde Chulalongkorn University International Design Workshop90*320cm / 36 pics / 2019
Photography：Jumin
Visual Effects：Jumin
Illustration：Melody, Taya, Dao, Byrd, Ping, Jumin
Produce a body of critical/speculative design work that is specific to one element of Bang Rak’s possible future.
The Bleak Bliss of Bang Rak
To reflect and exaggerate the possibility of BangRak through the local people eyes, by interviewing and asking them what problems they face and what they want to improve. We use real-life street view to make up the non-existent assumption BangRak and exaggerate what our eyes think of the problem above.
Bang Rak has been traditionally associated with quiet river life; it is currently going through a renaissance and has become a story of neighborhood revival with new developments and conserving and renovating historic buildings. The district contains a slew of edifices influenced by Europe – a result of being where Europeans would dock to trade and eventually set up their embassies. Houses of worship also still stand strong as pillars of the neighborhood as temples, mosques and churches all coexisting to support one another.
Bang Rak, along with neighboring Klongsan, has been dubbed as a ‘creative district’ (whatever that means). As critical designers, we should be skeptical of the motivations behind these public and private policy visions. Landowners and developers have a responsibility, too often the side effects of cultural and social whitewashing merely reinforces global capitalist values producing urban regeneration that goes without any alternative point of view. Using critical design as a method of inquiry for this issue, we will take an opposing, speculative view of this debate and offer alternative ways of living.
My street photography when I was in BangRak, Thailand.
To reflect and exaggerate the possibility of BangRak through the local people eyes, by interviewing and asking them what problems they face and what they want to improve. We use real-life street view to make up the non-existent assumption BangRak and exaggerate what our eyes think of the problem above.
Pink - local people
Green - artificial hazard
Yellow - environmental issue
Outcome
"If people are satisfied with their situation and bury themselves in ease,this place will be corrupted eventually."
This international workshop was co-organized with Chulalongkorn University CommDe Bachelor setting out my first overseas designing and cooperation with Thai students. Our goal was to resolve some local issues in Bang Rak using our design; however, the output of the initial interviews was utterly different from what we predicted. The residents are satisfied with their environment and think nothing should be improved. Our team failed to evaluate whether the local people knew what living justice they deserved.
We had made a harsh assumption.We assumed that the locals’ controls of the environment gradually faded away. The right hand side is full of green.On the other hand, pink gradually fades away from there.
A composite of BangRak street scene which has not been colored yet.
[ The Bleak Bliss of Bang Rak ]
90*320cm / 36 pics / 2019
Photography：Jumin
Composition：Jumin
Illustration：Melody, Taya, Dao, Byrd, Ping, Jumin