PUAD 4020 Design Studio 6 (Spring 2023)
Led by Professor Joel Towers
Led by Professor Joel Towers
Location: Khlong Toei, Bangkok, Thailand
Climate Zone: Tropical, monsoon (Am)
Building Type: single-family, multi-family housing, urban public space
Gross Square Footage: 59,426 ft2
Amidst Bangkok's urban flooding crisis, the Bangkok Urban Delta Project [BUDP] is a housing initiative that aims to empower informal settlements by combining traditional knowledge and modern ecological practices to create an environmentally resilient and socially equitable community-led living environment atop a rewilded wetland.
The BUDP recognizes the vital role of water in the Chao Phraya Delta [CPD] watershed. Rapid urbanization has made Bangkok vulnerable to flooding due to factors like the concretization of flood retention areas, the filling of Bangkok’s Khlong system, agricultural industrialization, and groundwater extraction. Informal settlements, such as Khlong Toei, house the most vulnerable population in Bangkok. With over 100,000 residents precariously situated along the shifting river edges or atop former floodwater management Khlongs, their exposure to urban flooding is a pressing issue.
BUDP reimagines the urban landscape as settlements upon de-concretized and rewilded wetlands, allowing water to flow freely through the city. It does so by incorporating and hybridizing the Thai Stilt House, a vernacular housing typology that emerged from generations of knowledge and traditional ecological practices. BUDP builds on scholarly and technical research on traditional typological examples around Bangkok and on-the-ground research at Klong Toei.
The designer functions as the visionary, bridging the gap between multiple disciplines and knowledge-based to create an integrated, resilient, and equitable living environment. The architect is providing the systems necessary to rebuild houses and consults with engineers to implement circular waste, water, and energy systems, while the community engages in participatory design and determines the urban organization of the modules and creations of necessary commons.
The project proposes three modules: Single House, Multiple House, and Long House; each based on vernacular typologies that orient around a commons. The stilt modules hybridize traditional and urban living, allowing for flexibility and adaptability in response to changing social dynamics, water levels, and delta landscape. The design restructures living rituals to encourage collectivity and efficiency.
WATER
The project was designed with a deep respect for the importance of water and the role it plays in the Chao Phraya Delta ecosystem. The design prioritizes circular water use and management by incorporating rainwater capture, vegetal filtration, and circular water infrastructure. The concept of "living with water" is central to the project's design philosophy, with water reintroduced into the urban landscape in a way that amplifies its natural and essential role. By respecting and enhancing the natural water systems of the Chao Phraya Delta, the project promotes urban resilience and a harmonious relationship between humans and nature.
ECOSYSTEMS
The project is highly responsive to the ecological context of the Chao Phraya River Delta. The design centers people and the water, air, plants, and animals at different scales, from local to regional. The project accommodates wildlife habitat preservation and creation, protecting ecosystems and watersheds. Additionally, the design encourages local food networks and supports the local economy. Wetland rehabilitation and tree planting allow the delta to breathe water again, creating a sustainable solution to ecological problems in the region. The development responds to local high residential density and urban conditions, promoting sustainability while preserving and benefiting the environment, ecosystems, and wildlife habitat.
INTEGRATION
The integration of equitable and sustainable design strategies is a defining characteristic of this project. The design recognizes that many existing urban systems and building strategies are incompatible with socio-ecological resilience. Land subsidence, the Urban Heat Island effect, and flooding due to the abundance of impervious areas are all outcomes of past planning failures. To overcome these challenges, the project prioritizes collaborative and sustainable design concepts and programming opportunities, resulting in a safe and resilient place for the most vulnerable residents of the city.
EQUITABLE COMMUNITIES
The project creates a diverse, accessible, and human-scaled community that promotes social equity and inclusion. The design process and outcome aim to remove barriers and promote engagement and human connection, particularly with respect to vulnerable communities. Through mutual aid and community construction, the project's design features shared spaces informed by vernacular forms of central Thailand, that make it possible for dignified affordability. These spaces provide a platform for co-creation, enabling residents to come together, share resources, and support each other. The commons are designed to foster community and enable residents to lead fulfilling lives.
CHANGE
This project goes beyond meeting the immediate needs of its occupants, anticipating future challenges, like climate change and natural disasters. It promotes long-term flexibility, reuse, and resilience by incorporating materials, systems, and design solutions that enhance versatility, durability, and adaptive reuse. It prioritizes passive survivability, providing habitable conditions in case of loss of power or water. Additionally, the design celebrates weathering over time, considering climate conditions both in 2023 and fifty years from now. The project is modular, adaptable, and transportable, allowing for disassembly and reassembly. It can exist over land or water using durable, renewable, and reclaimed materials.
ECONOMY
The project takes a unique approach to the economy by promoting the informal economy and utilizing a collective approach through co-design. Doing so, not only provides affordable solutions but also creates a sense of community and empowers the residents. The informal economy provides essential services and goods to the community, and informal workers are essential to the greater urban systems of Bangkok. The promotion of bamboo carpentry skill development creates job opportunities, further strengthening the local economy. The design prioritizes material efficiency and circular systems of waste and resources, reducing operating costs and promoting sustainable practices.
WELL-BEING
The design approach balances the needs of the environment, the economy, and human well-being. It prioritizes the use of local and reclaimed materials, non-industrial construction techniques, and programming to reduce the ecological impact and promote a circular economy. The design maximizes natural light, ventilation, and connection with the outdoors to enhance user comfort and well-being. It also promotes occupant health and well-being through the fostering of community support and mutual aid. The project responds to the ecological context, creating habitats for wildlife and rewilding wetlands. Ultimately, the goal is to create a resilient, affordable, dignified, and healthy place to thrive.
ENERGY
The project is climatically optimized to utilize minimal amounts of energy. It is designed to capture the wind to ventilate the interior and allow hot air to escape while maximizing indirect natural sunlight. No holistic mechanical or electrical systems are required. Additionally, minimal solar power is required to power electronics and water pumps and solar heat is used for hot water. As the design incorporates circular water and waste systems, residents will be conserving resources and ultimately working towards achieving carbon neutrality.
RESOURCES
The project carefully considers the life cycle of embodied energy and the carbon impact of materials, utilizing durable, renewable, and reclaimed materials. Operational carbon is extensively reduced as well. The primary material used is bamboo–fast-growing, carbon-sequestering, and structural material. Vinyl billboard tarps are repurposed as low-cost, durable, waterproof, and UV-protected materials for the building envelope. Off-grid, circular water management systems–including rainwater capture systems, water recycling, and greywater filtration system–solar energy systems, and waste management systems–a biodigester that digests human waste, and food waste to produce methane that can be used for cooking–will be implemented.
DISCOVERY
This project was designed with a deep respect for local, ecological knowledge and vernacular stilt typologies of Central Thailand (Ban Ruen). Through extensive research and collaboration with the community, it learns from the single-house, multiple-house, and long-house to incorporate regional climate design strategies. This project involves community construction, embracing an emergent, generative pattern that allows for immediate and continuous learning. Prioritizing community involvement creates a generative design that evolves with the needs of the residents. This participatory design process ensures that the design will continuously transform through use and learning, resulting in a resilient community for years to come.
