Within three weeks time, these architects transformed a concrete nook in Klong Toey, Bangkok, Thailand into a wood-laden multipurpose community space featuring a football/basketball court, climbing walls, seating, and room to hold public meetings. Entitled the “Klong Toey Community Lantern,” the area is the oldest and largest region of informal dwellings in the city. With an estimated 140,000+ people living in sub-standard housing with little to no tenure rights or support from the government, Klong Toey has immense social challenges due to the lack of public services including healthcare, affordable education, sanitation and electricity. “Klong Toey Community Lantern” is pat of a long-term strategy, serving as a tool for the community for social sustainability. With a simple main construction, repetitive logic and durability, the inhabitants are able to adapt and modify the structure to their changing needs without endangering structural strength or usability. Thus, it runs parallel to its surroundings, changing with the people and the times.

TYIN KTCL

Image: TYIN Architects