09 the six projects from the workshop
After working for about two days on the site and the context, another three days on the project itself, these are six the proposals of the students to design Baan Leam Tong School Learning Center and Guesthouse. :)
1. Water Collector
Benz, Zing, Name and Tool came up with this idea of a building that besides the required functions, it should be able to act as a rain water collector and preserve. Although presently, the school has several rain water preserve tanks, they are not enough to keep water to spend for the whole year.
They began with the idea of big roofs that act as rain water collectors. When the rain water falls from one level to another, it could create a temporary wall. Also water tanks could be part of some walls of the building. Here are their study models. They tried to understand the contours and the rain directions and so on..
The most impressive thing was their one-to-one-scale model which actually a pure improvisation. They brought some tube ballons from Bangkok without knowing what to do exactly. They used them as a representaion of the rains. The model shows the directions and the volume of the rains passing to the roofs.
We tried some shots at night. It was successful only with this one.
2. In Between the Trees
Meth, Ta, Sai and Tip were interested in the space in-between the existing trees in the site. It is very nice and pleasant - they believe. Their idea is to create the space between the trees usable for some outdoor fuctions without too much interruptting the terrains. And then they want to have the building in the area where there is not tree at all, and create the building space similar to the space in between the trees. They like the very flexible, gentle and soft quality of it.
Their very first conceptual model.
The one-to-one-scale model was an attempt to understand the space in between those trees by creating objects to interact with the space they are interested. The two cylinders made out of fabric were hung in between the trees. Actually they did not signify any functions or anything, just a room, to understand the space around.
They accepted that they have learned a lot more about the space 'in between the trees'. Well, we are looking forward to see the further development then.
3. Meeting on the Route
The project of Fam, Fern, Pam and Chompu - the super power girls. At the beginning, they were interested in everything.. very macro scale of interested. We told them to scope down, and choose what they liked the most to work on. They, therefore, came up with the idea about how external people who come to use this building would interact with the school and the locals.
They started to analyze the whole master plan of the school, and then try to modify the masterplan by the new buildings. The building should be something that activate the new zoning and circulation system of the school and should be able to grow out of the existing school seamlessly. They wanted to also work on 'the seams' between the school and the building by creating an space where the boundary would be blurred by some common activities.
Their one-to-one-scale model was very interesting. They just made 'the routes' all over the site. And then activated some space by using very little elements interlacing with the routes made, such as small chairs - actually it worked, some kids used them right away and the unattended space became very lively! Congratulations! We are really looking forward to the space and finally the building that will come out from the project.
4. Pre-fabricated Modular
Another 4-girl group, Preaw, Oil, Pear and Nam. They began with the idea of making something simple and easy to build by something in modular system and also it could be able to pre-fabricated from a factory. So at the site, you just have to assemble everything to become a building. 
They found fishing net quite interesting because while it is in a modular system, it is very flexible - so perhaps it can be used to accomodate with uneven slopes in the site. In this photo, they tried with their conceptual model. We were all trying to see the fishing net as they explained.
The one-to-one-scale model made out of PET bottles, which is one of the biggest garbage around...They wanted to communicate this modular, pre-fabricated system and moreover, if possible, some recycle materials. The small space was cover by the so-called net structure by hanging.
They accepted that the idea has to be a lot further developed, with more understanding of structure and topography. We all are waiting then.
5. Hammock
Joe, Hin, Toey and Pao were interested in the idea of a 'hammock'. Because of its ability to transform quickly a space and its function with a very simple act and technology. Moreover, it also signifies something relaxing and friendly. However, they accepted that the degree of temporarity and flexibility of an actual building is not actually so simple. There for they divided the project into two parts: the most compact building that houses the necessary interior functions (or when it rains), then the outdoor plateforms and roofs that would act more like a hammock. In the conceptual model you can see that the 'hammock-like' part is a kind of extension of the building into the trees.
Their one-to-one-scale model was simply made out of two sheets of canvas brought randomly from Bangkok.
Because of the slope of the site, some of the roof is an extionsion of a plateform.. you can use the space under or above. Very simple but expressive model. They also learned that with the very uneven terrain, they have to study much more the slope of the site.
6. Water Filter + Dam
Joke, Kwang, Bee and Paan were working on several ideas. First they were facinated by this idea that sand can filter, and transform dirty water into a clean one. Their quite ambitious idea was then, to make a building that could produce and collect clean water to people. Their experiment was quite fun for our presentation. :)
Then, their idea a bit transformed into this sand bags that could be a very simple building material and method. For a floor, you don't need to make a foundation, and very little to distube the terrain.. and also you can move the floor, if you want. Also the sand bags could be also some wall if needed. This wall could be also water dam at the same time..
The one-to-one-scale model was more a representation of their idea with available materials like the balloons.. However, they tried the real sand bags on the floor and found out that it was not as simple..To make it working properly they might have to design their own sand bag and the way to put them altogether - it is quite exciting actually. I believe if they are serious enough, it could be a very interesting project too.
Well, after coming back to Bangkok, they will have a whole month of August to develop their idea into a building before we decide which scheme we really want to work on as an actual building. Let's see then. :)
