Project 2: "Kit" by Pin Laohasurayotin

The world today is beginning to merge into one. People relocate across the globe. Interracial marriage is now not an uncommon issue, and many mixed babies are being born. In the future, how can we exactly define what is a Thai? What is an American? What do they look like? Our societies, from homogenous society, is going under a process of turning into a heterogenous society. People of different ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, and different lifestyles have different habitat preferences.
The Client is a family of 4 people: a couple with one child and their mother in law living together under one roof. They each have a different background.

The Habitat is based on a meter grid system. There are different modules for each program, each block based on the 'block' a 3 by 3 grid, or 9 square meters. There are some programs that take up the whole blocks, and there are also ones that come in half blocks. These blocks could be put together in different ways, different orders depending of the preferences of the inhabitant. 

For example, a Western family might all want separate bedrooms where as an Asian family wouldn't mind sleeping all together in one large room. Some cultures have food that does not have a pleasant odour, so they might want to place the bedroom quite faraway form the kitchen. Some might like a large open multipurpose living room, or some might prefer it differently, which this habitat hopefully will allow this freedom.
To construct the space, the first step is to choose the program block. Then, there are three choices of space barriers, one being a solid wall, the other a screen, or a space with no walls at all which is useful to join two spaces together. The screen is developed from the first project, the Wall of the Architectural element, where it is made of louvres that are foldable, allowing two spaces to be divided or joined when needed.
Each living unit will take up different volumes, shapes and sizes. When put together into a building, each unit will interlock and overlap.

For the client, They have a space of 81 square meters total. It contains two levels, one main level and one mezzanine. The main level is more open, which is where the kitchen and living areas are, while the mezzanine is more closed and private where there are the bedrooms and the bathroom. Many Asian countries prefer to have large open spaces as their living space, and this design allows them to do so. 

The site chosen is at Soi Paholyotin 3, on an empty plot of land of approximately 5,000 square meters. The location is not too far away from downtown Bangkok, but it is also not too close and not too busy, but suitable to be a site of a residential building. It is right next to the main road, Paholyotin Road and it is accessible also by BTS stations Sanampao and Ari. There are fresh markets, supermarkets, hospitals that are all nearby the site, which is quite convenient for non-locals who might not be yet too familiar with the city or area.