Bangkok Project Studio

Many may see these bamboo trays as too rough, and question why I did not choose a more refined pattern.

But what I seek to communicate
is not beauty born from delicacy,
but necessity.These trays were woven for real use. Rough, only to the extent required. The old timber assembled with them was not polished smooth,
made only as much as needed to stand.

When materials shaped only by necessity come together,
a pavilion emerges - one that holds the image of a large elephant
and becomes this work of art.

If I were to say that these trays
were woven by elderly women in a small community in Thailand,
would they appear more beautiful?
Or were they already beautiful
long before we knew their origin?

Presented under the theme “Inequalities” at Triennale Milano,
this pavilion reflects the ecological pressures that elephants face
amid shortages of food and water.

Elephants live within the limits of their ecosystem.They eat until they are full,
drink only what they need, and move according to the seasons.

This pavilion is not designed to explain elephants, but to invite visitors to look back at themselves- to consider what roughness, necessity,and living within limits might be telling us.

Elephants have long memories.
They remember people, paths, and shared time.
They feel, they learn, and they live within deep social bonds.
In many Asian cultures, humans did not learn about elephants from books,
but from living close to them.
sharing the same rhythm of time.
The relationship between humans and elephants in Thailand is not about command.
It is about listening.
About patience.
About understanding that not everything can be controlled.
You cannot rush an elephant.
If you do not listen, it will not move.
If you do not understand, it will not follow.

For this reason, what comes from elephants - their labor, their time, even their “ DUNG”

is not a product of exploitation,
but a result of “ Long Coexistence”.

This is why elephant dung bricks are not merely material experiments.
They are ethical materials.

Born from relationship, not extraction.
And when material comes from relationship,

architecture becomes a reminder
that humans can still live with others
with dignity.

From present to past 🐘

2025–2026
Elephant Dung Brick Tower, Matalay, Khao Lak

2025
Elephant Chapel, Venice Architecture Biennale now has moved to Thai Temple in Milan.

2019
Dung Power Tower, Royal Academy of Arts, London

2018
Elephant Theatre, Versailles — Bangkok

New year with Shirley, curator from M+ Museum. But for me, she is a friend, someone who feels like a mentor.
In many ways, I feel I am being curated by her all the time, which I truly enjoy.

Shirley spent the New Year with us and visited my works, including those still under construction:
the Gor Ya Tower, built entirely from elephant-dung bricks, and a group of small wooden houses made from 60-year-old reclaimed timber, once an abandoned rice granary, now reassembled by the sea.

For me, these buildings are filled with stories, stories of place, of coexistence, and of the communities behind them.
Materials speak quietly about shared lives,
if you are willing to listen.

Being in unfinished buildings with Shirley brought me back to questions that begin with “How”.

She does not ask why I do what I do, but invites me to explain how.

The bonus of this journey was my daughter and her friends,
who had the chance to sit and listen to Shirley.
They are very fortunate.
Thank you for spending the New Year with us.