Bangkok’s lost heritage

Driving last week end through Bangkok old China town roads, I couldn’t  help wonder like so many other times, why is nothing being done to preserve the old traditional buildings in this area? It’s heart breaking, some real gems are left to complete disrepair and neglect! I understand that restoration and preservation of traditional buildings can be a very expensive …

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The Lost Heritage, Kolkata

    I wrote  recently about the lost heritage in Bangkok and what I thought were the reasons behind the total neglect of these buildings.I just returned from Kolkata and believe me what I saw was beyond comprehension. Some amazing architectural pieces were at the verge of collapse.Kolkata was the first British Capital of India and thus has one of the richest …

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Bangkok lost heritage, what’s next?

Well as promised at my last article, I did some research, not anything in great depth but enough to see what strategies and financing models have been used to salvage architectural heritage in various places across the world. The first one I came across and which has a record of successful applications is; Tax Increment Financing (TIF), the most widely …

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Minimalism in Architecture, Origin, and Context

There are a lot of publications defining what minimalism is, when it started as an architecture movement and what influenced it. In general it is believed that minimalism is a 20th, 21st century movement that was influenced by Japanese architecture, Mies Van Der Rohe,             De Stijl…etc It stands for pure forms, no decoration for …

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The Art of Reconciling New and Old Architecture Forms

 What strikes you in these images? Is there a clash here, does it intrigue you, bother or pleases you? I am sure there are no simple answers to this question. Some of us love and want modern and new technological wonders others are rather well settled in the familiar, the conventional.As architects we face this dilemma often;Owners and clients sometimes come …

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