Architecture of Thailand: A Guide to Tradition and Contemporary Forms

This book focuses on the multitude of elements and forms that go into Thai architecture. It is a guide to aesthetics that also explores the underlying meanings of forms. All the important features of Thai culture—its agrarian roots, its religion and monarchy, its rich mix of foreign influences—are embodied in buildings. As a result, this book also illuminates Thai tradition and history.

Lively text and hundreds of photographs and illustrations explore Thailand’s indigenous house architecture, from the humble but charming field hut woven of bamboo to the splendid teak mansion built high on stilts. Religious architecture, the product of centuries of influences from all over Asia and the world, is viewed in terms of the special features and functions of each building in the temple compound.

Regional stylistic variations are also presented. There are chapters devoted to the Grand Palace; the elements and ornamentation of palaces and temples; and architecture shaped by immigrants and by foreign tradition. Some topics here are little covered elsewhere: Thailand’s Islamic architecture, shophouses, Siamese-style bonsai gardening, courtyard walls and gates, and ornament such as glass mosaic. Finally, the authors look at today’s innovative adaptation of traditional Thai forms in modern architecture.