Get to Know the Creative Districts Ahead of BKKDW2024: Phra Nakhon

Combining old and modern elements to develop a timeless creative district.

If you ask your foreign friends where they would go when visiting Bangkok, popular answers would likely include visiting the stunning Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, touring the Grand Palace, queuing for Raan Jay Fai and Pad Thai Pratu Pi, and ending a perfect day with a good time at Khao San Road. As a top global tourist destination, Bangkok undoubtedly recognizes its old town, Phra Nakhon, as one of the main destinations for travelers.

Amidst these famous attractions, Phra Nakhon is concurrently facing a transformative challenge in urban space utilization. As the original residential area morphs into a full-fledged tourist zone, residents and local workers who live hand-to-mouth are forced to relocate due to urban expansion. What remains are numerous old buildings, abandoned and awaiting repurposing in a way that better fits the drastically changed societal context.

As locals, how will they address these issues? Join us to find the answer with Dr. Pheereeya Boonchaiyapruek, an Urban Ally representative serving as a key Co-Host for Phra Nakhon in this year’s Bangkok Design Week.

An ‘Old Town’ District Conducive to ‘New Business’

With valuable assets accumulating for over 240 years, Phra Nakhon has become an area filled with significant historical sites, cultural capital, and an old-world charm that evokes nostalgia. One thing the old town possesses in abundance is an identity that seamlessly merges the old with the new. However, another aspect that Dr. Pheereeya sees as a strength is the area’s compact urban structure that contains several significant landmarks within a walkable distance, seemingly better designed than some of the newer districts.

“Actually, the old town’s characteristics are that of a truly walkable city. It has sidewalks and small interconnected blocks, making it a 15-minute town. This is a clear characteristic. We also had the opportunity to speak with new startups that moved into the area. After staying for a while, they mentioned that it’s easy to find food, convenient to buy things, and everything is accessible in the old town. This is the inherent capital of the city’s structure, which is good. Ultimately, the identity of the old town is clear. It has distinct properties. It’s the original area of the city, with valuable buildings and lots of vacant space waiting for development. It features ‘shophouse’ architecture, which is ideally scaled for developing micro or creative businesses.”

‘Maintaining the City’ with Creativity

The process of ‘maintenance’ refers to the steps taken to care for various things, restoring them to a usable condition and enabling them to function again to meet the needs of its users. Thus, ‘maintaining the city’ in this context means maintaining different areas within the old district that may have been neglected, so they can be effectively used once more.

“Over the past 15 years, the Phra Nakhon district has undergone changes. There has been a reuse of old buildings for various activities. However, at the same time, another group of buildings has been abandoned. Many general businesses, not related to the creative industry, have shut down — approximately half of them. We have noticed that the businesses in this area are heavily related to tourism. In addition, there are not a lot of businesses related to design or production in the area. Instead, businesses involve buying and selling of an intermediary nature. Consequently, the area is becoming more of a downstream business district. If this continues, the identity that the area once had will disappear.”

The tool that Urban Ally has chosen to for maintaining and revitalizing the old town is ‘creativity.’ Dr. Pheereeya explained that their main goal is not just to organize occasional creative events in the district, but to transform Phra Nakhon into a ‘smart business city’ that can attract creative minds to move in, live, and work here for the long term.

“This concept of a ‘smart business city’ refers to a creative city with design work as its core. It’s a district where new startups and businesses are eager to move into. There’s an increase in businesses related to design and more products being produced in the area. It’s not just about using design or art to create tourist attractions for people to visit and leave, but about creating factors that make creative individuals want to move into the district. That’s the kind of destination we want.”

An ‘Assortment’ of Allies to ‘Maintain the City’

Developing a district isn’t something that can be achieved by working alone, especially in important areas filled with various stakeholders like government officials, established communities, designers, entrepreneurs, tourists, and others, as in the Phra Nakhon district. Another indispensable element in Urban Ally’s process is, therefore, the uniting of these diverse people into ‘partners’ ready to join in maintaining the city together.

“We have been working for three years on matching designers, government officials, and communities. We understand what the government wants and what designers dislike doing. So this is our role: to link everything and everyone so that everything can progress. It’s also about creating a space where designers feel comfortable enough to work freely. Then the government have a better understanding of its benefits, and the community understands how they can participate in these projects once they are initiated.”

Besides coordinating cooperation among various parties being a key pillar in the big picture of the district, Dr. Pheereeya explains that the role of ‘making allies’ is equally important in Bangkok Design Week.

“In this event, we’re not just a single group of designers, but a combination of multiple disciplines coming together, which also reflects the process of urban work. Working on a city cannot be done alone, and no single discipline can operate by itself. It needs a blend of many elements. This is the DNA of what we’ve been trying to push forward — that it requires many people working together to make what we hope for a reality.”

Combining Multiple Disciplines to Create New Experiences in Old Town at BKKDW 2024

From her three years of experience as a Co-Host for the Phra Nakhon district, Dr. Pheereeya revealed that Urban Ally’s new objective for this year’s Bangkok Design Week is to reshape the image of the district through new experiences that visitors may have never encountered before, along with new approaches to utilizing spaces that have been underused in various ways.

“One problem with the Phra Nakhon district is that many areas are still unused. After our work last year, we saw people who felt a connection to this area, whether they had worked here before or lived nearby, seeing it in a new light. Even those who have never known this place started using these spaces and understanding the feelings of those living in the old town. It’s very interesting. This year, we want to focus on experimenting with new experiences in using these old spaces in a variety of ways.

“For instance, we work with groups specializing in projection mapping and moving images to create new experiences in these spaces. We’re thinking about how another form of art can change perceptions. The locations include the Maen Si Metropolitan Waterworks Authority Office, Rommaninat Park, Mahakan Fort, and the courtyard inside Bangkok City Hall.

“The courtyard also hosts the ‘People Pavilion.’ This year, we’ll be organizing the event in a semi-public government space, conveying the idea of a 15-minute city, while discussing the future role of the City Hall building, as Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt is planning to completely relocate government officials and City Hall to Din Daeng. This event will act as a platform for people to ask what this space can transform into as well as what the people and the community want.

“The ‘Phra Nakhon Audio Guide’ will offer another kind of experience, guiding visitors with audio similar to a museum tour. However, we see the entire district as an exhibition space, both the indoor and outdoor. People can walk freely and experience new things through the audio guides. You don’t need to open a map, just listen and follow the instructions, like turn right here, turn left there, see that building, try entering that shop. This is a new experience we are trying to introduce in the district.

“There’s also a lighting design project by the FOS team called, ‘Bangkok Nostalgia at the Mahakan Fort,’ which is now an unused public park. How do we attract people to it? The FOS team has stepped in to take on that task, and we welcomed the gesture. After so many historic events taking place there, it now remains idle. We should be bold in doing something with it. There will also be a projection mapping project at Mahakan Fort by The Motion House team.”

The more Dr. Pheereeya describes what’s about to happen in the Phra Nakhon district, the more exciting and interesting it gets. Another thing that has become vividly clear through the intense preparation process is the gathering of designers from various teams and disciplines, joining forces as one. It’s truly an ‘assortment’ of allies coming together to ‘maintain the city.’

Learn more about the Phra Nakhon district through the neighborhood’s recommended programs

People Pavilion

www.bangkokdesignweek.com/bkkdw2024/program/76271 

Phra Nakhon Audio Guide

www.bangkokdesignweek.com/bkkdw2024/program/76296 

“มา/หา/กัน” Join (joy) together

www.bangkokdesignweek.com/bkkdw2024/program/76265 

ExperienceScape: The Legendary Scape

www.bangkokdesignweek.com/bkkdw2024/program/73204 

คลิกเพื่อดูโปรแกรมทั้งหมดของย่านพระนคร ที่นี่

www.bangkokdesignweek.com/bkkdw2024/program?nbh=49828 

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Bangkok Design Week 2024

Livable Scape

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27 Jan – 4 Feb 2024

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