INDA 2017 2018 ArchDesign 4 Semester 1: VERY WELCOME

VERY WELCOME

INTRODUCTION : Paradox of Tourism (1 week)

Mass Tourism

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1OG5dWXVdtuNjVwMVF3N3pLZ0U/view?usp=sharing

The first experience of mass tourism took place in 1841, in Great-Britain. Thomas Cook, a British businessman and a pioneer in the tourism sector, organized a train trip for 500 activists in a league. This was the first time that people are gathered at a station, that they are counted, that they are checked on the list, that a program.

Tourism in this period was practiced in the eighteenth century by aristocrats confronted with worlds where values are not the same as theirs, where the journey took on an "initiatory" meaning. Then, in the nineteenth century, it was the bourgeois who imitated travelers in order to acquire their social status, but without the idea of travel. The tourism we know today began with paid holidays created in the 1960s, enabling the mass of the people to travel in order to support the economy. This meant cheaper vacation costs, more accessible means of transportation and accommodation. Today's tourism is no longer the goal of human development. The main objective is now to have fun and relax, in atmospheres that tend to unify with a strong marketing focus. Tourism has grown and expanded : the number of tourists doubles every twenty years. It is becoming one of the biggest economic factors in the countries. Mass tourism allows to develop different activities : restaurants, bars, cafes, accommodation centers, hotels, camping, etc. The turnover is very interesting on holiday periods. Package tours (transportation, rental and activities) are typically tourist magnets.

However, mass tourism has negative repercussions on the population and on the environment : more or less important degradations appear and can be irreversible.

Paradoxically, the demand for intact nature is increasing, but the facilities that must be put in place to protect this nature refuse to be paid by tourists. Indeed, controlling tourist impacts on a site is very difficult, as it is not only dependent on the clientele that frequent it, but also municipalities whose financial capacity to protect or manage the site is often insignificant. Products and a lot of energy and water are needed.

PHASE 1 : Redefining tourism with the creation
of an engaged traveling guide (3 weeks)

Architectural Weirdos

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Robot Building

The Robot Building in Bangkok, also the Bank of Asia, is a building in the form of a robot. This building is seen as a toy, contrary to the important function it fulfills. The architect Sumet Jumsai drew a building reflecting the modernization and computerization of banking services. But he believes that his building "should not be a robot" because other forms would have sufficed to "free the mind from the current intellectual impasse and move forward into the next century". Sumet Jumsai wrote that his design could be considered post-high-tech: do not show the inner workings of the building, but adorn a finished product with metal parts. Today, the building is seen as a separate entity in Bangkok, as if it were erected on a pedestal. He became a "part of our daily life, a friend", bringing together Man and Machine.

Elephant Building

The Elephant Building, an elephant building, is one of Bangkok's best known buildings. Combining offices and residences, it is composed of 3 towers connected on the top by necessity of a large sales areas. This building reflects the country in its form and scope: it represents the elephant, symbol of Thailand and it is one of the largest buildings in the world. It is seen as a playful building by children, as a symbol by adults and as a strange building by tourists.

Wat Sampan Dragon Temple

The Wat Samphran Dragon Temple is a 16-story tower with a dragon wound around it. The tower is within a complex of several statues and temples hidden in the trees. The architect is unknown and know why this too. This complex temple is not referenced in any tourist guides, and getting there is complicated. Only certain well-informed and curious tourists visited.

The visit of this spiritual place is done in the calm of nature, while being rocked by the songs of the guardians of the temple. The paths are covered with footprints and hands cast on the ground. The statues are numerous and quite different from each other: rabbit, tortoise, snake, dragon, elephant, monster, Buddha, etc.

There is virtually no tourism in this place of worship. It is a place of prayer preserved and far from the city.

Sathorn Unique Tower - Ghost Tower

The Sathorn Unique Tower, also known as the Ghost Tower, is a building that has never been finished. This tower, designed to be a luxury condominium, is built at 80%. Construction stopped abruptly due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997. The architect, Rangsan Torsuwan, was arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Supreme Court president and was convicted in 2008. Further to the financing of the tower was interrupted and never resulted.

Today, it is a clandestine tourism that has developed with exhibitions and weekends of organized visits. Despite the fact that the building is forbidden to the public, it has become an urban exploration destination and receives the attention of international visitors, the number of visitors increases every year.

Many stories and legends revolve around this tower. In 2014, the body of a Swedish man is found hanged on the 43rd floor, it is called suicide, but this has called into question the safety of the building. In 2015, criminal charges were laid against foreigners who created a video of themselves in the tower, to deter people from climbing the building. In 2017, the building was used as the location of a horror film. That is why today, some believe that the building is haunted, especially as the ground on which it is located is probably an ancient cemetery. Others think that the ground is not adapted because its shadow is projected on the neighboring building, which has caused its failure.

Tourists coming to visit come more like a challenge, with as a gift a view of Bangkok at the top of the tower.

PHASE 2 : New uprising tourism (2 weeks)

WILDLIFE TOURISM

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1OG5dWXVdtuZHo4ZHpaRXQ4Nlk/view?usp=sharing

Welcome to « Into the Wild » tour !

Into the Wild is a travel agency that combines weirdo architecture and wildlife tourism. You see, when you go to a safari in the savanna, you see wild animals, plants, natural landscapes, and you say "Wow ! It's beautiful ! ". Because it's something special, an experience that makes you shivering, something like an adventure, an exploration that takes you out of your daily life. The downside is that it’s not next door that you will see wildlife ...

That's why Into The Wild is there for you ! Come and experience an urban safari with us ! There are plenty of wild places in the city that you can explore, places where nature has resumed its rights and where man is no longer welcome. Come with us to observe, explore, interact and discover these hidden places of Bangkok. You will be able to dive with fishes, to catch butterflies or also to drive a train ! You will feel like an explorer or a backpacker in the heart of the city, looking for wild buildings.

In this poster you can find some of these places by using the map of Bangkok in the center. There are wild animals, abandoned places, haunted places and even public places. You can familiarize yourself in advance with these places with these small posters. You can also come to breathe this herbarium in order to feel close to the wild life. Do not hesitate to keep our contact for new adventures.

Visit Cards

Visit Cards : Link to PDF

A6 Posters

PHASE 3 : Strategical Location (1 week)

PHASE 4 : Designing a new hybrid building as an
integration of an accommodation with an
activity that implements the niche tourism
studied (6 weeks)

Welcome to the Into The Wild travel agency !

This agency offers you a unique experience, that of discovering Bangkok through its wild life. Like a safari in the savannah, venture alongside wild animals and vegetation left to itself, and explore the hidden face of the city.

Into The Wild takes you on an urban safari. There are many wild places in Bangkok that you can explore, places where nature has taken over and man is no longer welcome. Come observe, explore, interact and discover these wild places. You can swim with fishes, stroll among the butterflies or eat with monitor lizards. You will also discover abandoned places, haunted places and religious places. Feel like an explorer or hiker in the heart of the city, looking for wildlife.

Access the Into The Wild center by taking the BTS Ratchadamri station. Going upstairs, you will find yourself in the heart of a huge sphere. The structure, made of metal and bamboo, hosts food and water for the butterflies. The reception and offices are located in the center of the platforms that rise in the heights of the sphere. Our staff will be able to guide you here and accompany you in your stay with us. Let yourself be rocked by the fluttering of these hundreds of flying insects and then head to the central body of our center.

Indeed, Into The Wild is a program that is embedded in the existing life of Bangkok, like a climbing plant taking possession of its wall. You will find scattered rooms in the existing hotels nearby. Do not worry, our rooms are recognizable thanks to small triangles of earth containing plants hanging on the facades. Delivered to themselves, they encircle the windows of our rooms. Thus, you will always be in touch with the wild nature.

Go on an adventure now and get off in the pool. At the heart of this same open structure of metal and bamboo, a large pool with wild fish awaits you. By swimming with them in the open, you integrate wildlife.

Once dry, go up the other side of the field by taking the escalators. Take the time to admire the view and the wild vegetation that clings to the structure encompassing these bridges. This gives you access to other accommodations. Follow the small plots of wilderness and bridges, you will arrive at the restaurant. Here and nowhere else will you be able to eat while observing lizards, the characteristic reptiles of Lumpini Park. Together, you will share a meal.

With the belly filled, go back to the common work area. Under large open structures where climbing plants rest, coworking spaces are arranged for all tastes : work alone, chat comfortably installed, meeting several, spaces to call in privacy, etc.

You have just discovered the welcome center of our Into The Wild program. In parallel, also access the tours organized by us to make you discover Bangkok differently. It is with joy that we will meet again.