Home

© B.Arch in the International Development Studio

The wealthy classes have always been consumers of the art of architecture since the Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Greek epochs. Conventional architectural practice and education has long been limited to serving a minority of the world’s population. To engage architects in the design of people’s houses has often been seen as unnecessary or extravagant. This paper sets to present the gap between conventional architectural education and the majority of the population in Thailand, focusing on low-income housing and community development. Moreover, it presents challenges of alternative architectural education which integrated community development into its architectural programme, with case studies from England and Thailand. The author employed participatory observation as a method of this paper, in order to reflect on the practice of the case studies of alternative architectural education.

• Reflection on Practice: Integration of Participatory Design and Community Development in Alternative Architectural Education: Case Studies from England and Thailand (PDF, 2 MB)

© FACTORIA JOVEN “YOUTH FACTORY” (MERIDA, SPAIN) 

In the past years, commercial public spaces, be it shopping malls, markets, cafes, or coffee shops, have expanded and increased rapidly. Children and youth have come to occupy and use these spaces in almost all aspects from grocery shopping, hanging out with friends, reading for exams, to even working remotely on the internet. Unfortunately, these spaces often come with a cost and not everyone can utilize them. The questions are, thus: How does youth see this issue? To what extent do these public spaces respond to their needs? If not, what are ways to improve urban public spaces?
 

• New Public Space in Youth’s Eyes and the Possibility of a Dream City That is Free, Inclusive, and Equal (PDF, 1 MB)