URBAN PASTRY
This project looks to revitalise an area of Bangkok’s Old Town and repurpose one of the city’s notable landmarks -the Nightingale shopping mall - as an artists retreat. Bangkok has long been a haven for artists, with a unique vibe and culture, and a low cost of living, it’s a popular location for artists to travel to in order to get inspired. A new artists retreat could reinvigorate some of the city’s tourism that has been lost due to recent political and social unrest.
Brutal & Iconic Façade
Brutalist external façade of the Nightingale shopping mall is extremely outdated. However, the building made a reputation by virtue of the eccentric facade. Thus, the facade is still meaningful in the sense that it has been an important landmark of an area of Bangkok’s Old Town, maintaining its own gorgeous aesthetics. Therefore, we propose to make the most use of this wall façade and further, make it play a role in triggering interesting spaces, keeping the existing feature. Beeing looked at the front, the identity of this building is remained.
Porosity & Artist Retreat
The existing wall façade has porous patterns that allows it to be seen through from outside and inside at the same time. This porosity is beneficial for artists retreat becuase the artists could be inspired by the urban scenery, especially vivid picture of the street in which this building is located. This transparency is also provides the city with interesting peeping experience; artists every life including working, eating, playing and even staying all night is seen through the building façade.
Infiltrated Façade
The existing flat façade wall is going to be set back and become interior elements of that building, by being transformed into numours layers such as "Pastry." It defines inner spaces in which various artists occupy the in-between rooms so that they could be immersed in their own world of art. The elements transform into various components such as pieces of furniture, exhibition partition and walls.
Preserved Frontality
Because the facade blocks were just set back, the frontality, which is a symbolic landmark in the old town, could be preserved. However, the group of blocks contains space for artists and tourists as we can see from the north elevation. The permeated facade will bring dynamic and energetic events into the building, and the identity will be maintained.
image courtesy of https://archivemodernarchitecture.tumblr.com/