The architecture of Thailand is a major part of the country's cultural legacy and reflects both the challenges of living in Thailand's sometimes extreme climate as well as, historically, the importance of architecture to the Thai people's sense of community and religious beliefs. Influenced by the architectural traditions of many of Thailand's neighbors, it has also developed significant regional variation within its vernacular and religious buildings. Although Siam urged to identify themselves as a modernized state, Western culture and influence was undesirable and inevitable. In an attempt to become distinguished, Thailand's ruling elite gravitated toward selective Modernization to avoid the undesired Western influence.
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History
Age of Tawaravadee (B.E.12-16)
The architecture of Tawaravadee appears in the central region of Thailand. It used clay bricks and sometimes laterite. The construction of pagodas had a square base and an inverted-bell shape topped with a spire.
Age of Sriwichai (B.E.13-18)
The architecture of Sriwichai is notable for the stupa-style Buddha which has a square base and an octagonal top.
Age of Lopburi (B.E.12-18)
The architecture of Lopburi adopted the style of the Khmer and can be seen in the Shrines of Ganesh. This style preferred to use brick, sandstone, and laterite. Originally brick and sandstone were used to build houses or castles and laterite for bases.
Age of Chiang Saen (B.E.16-23)
Most religious places were built during the age of Chiang Saen. The builders received and integrated art and culture from other territories such as Sukhothai, Tawaravadee, Sriwichai, and Burma.
Age of Sukhothai (B.E.19-20)
The art of Sukhothai began in B.E. 1780 when King Indraditya established the Sukhothai Kingdom. The identity of the architecture inSukhothai is decorations in order to display the Buddhist faith by building the buildings in symbolic shapes.
Age of Authong (B.E.17-20)
The architecture of Authong integrated the art of Tawaravadee and Khmer civilization such as the building style of Phra Prang in Wat Sri Rattana Mahathat, Lopburi.
Age of Ayutthaya (B.E.20-23)
The identity of architecture in this period is designed to display might and riches so it has great size and appearance. The temples in Ayutthaya seldom built eaves stretching from the masterhead. The dominant feature of this style is sunlight shining into buildings. During the latter part of the Ayutthaya period, architecture was regarded as a peak achievement that responded to the requirements of people and expressed the gracefulness of Thainess. But the development of architecture had to stop because Ayutthaya as defeated in the war in Burma in B.E.2310.
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Traditional Thai houses
As the phrase "Thai stilt house" suggests, one universal aspect of Thailand's traditional architecture is the elevation of its buildings on stilts, most commonly to around head height. The area beneath the house is used for storage, crafts, lounging in the daytime, and sometimes for livestock such as chickens or ducks. The houses were raised due to the fact that many Thai villages are centered around rivers and canals, which are subject to flooding during the rain season. Thai building and living habits are often based on superstitious and religious beliefs. Many other considerations such as locally available materials, climate, and agriculture have a lot to do with the style.
Thai houses are made from a variety of wood and are often built in just a day as prefabricated wood panels are built ahead of time and put together on site by a master builder. Many houses are also built with bamboo, a material that is easily constructed and does not require professional builders. Most homes start out as a single family home and when a daughter gets married, an additional house is built on site to accommodate her new family. Although the house is built with prefab panels that are easy to rearrange, there are taboos against rearranging a house.
A traditional house is usually built as a cluster of physically separate rooms arranged around a large central terrace. The terrace is the largest singular part of the home as it makes up to 40% of the square footage, and up to 60% if the veranda is included. An area in the middle of the terrace is often left open to allow the growth of a tree through the structure, providing welcome shade. The tree chosen is often flowering or scented.
It is important for the Thai people to draw in their natural surroundings by placing potted plants around the terrace. In the past there were strict taboos regarding which plants could be placed directly around the house (in current times these are often ignored for the sake of aesthetics). The level of the floor changes as one moves from room to terrace, providing a wide variety of positions for sitting or lounging around the living areas.
Furniture is sparse and includes a bed platform, dining table, and loose cushions for sitting. Sleeping areas are set up so that the beds are aligned with the shorter end of the room (as sleeping parallel with the length is similar to lying in a coffin). The direction that the head points towards can never be the west as that is the position bodies are laid in before cremation.
Kuti
A kuti is a small structure, built on stilts, designed to house a monk. Its proper size is defined in the Sanghathisep, Rule 6, to be 12 by 7 keub (or 4.013 by 2.343 meters). This tiny footprint is intended to aid the monk's spiritual journey by discouraging the accumulation of material goods. Typically a monastery consists of a number of these buildings grouped together on a shared terrace, either in an inward facing cluster or aligned in a row. Often these structures included a separate building, called a hor trai, used to store scriptures.
Religious buildings
Thailand features a large number of Buddhist temples, a reflection of the country's widespread Buddhist traditions. Although the term wat is properly used to refer only to a Buddhist site with resident monks, it is applied loosely in practice and will typically refer to any place of worship other than the Islamic mosques found in southern Thailand.
Lak Mueang
Lak Mueang or city pillar is a shrine (Thai: ????????????) which is also believed to house Chao Pho Lak Mueang (????????????????), the city spirit deity. It was constructed because the continuation of ancient traditions and Brahman's customs believed that it has something to do with the Held, the single city pillar ceremony (Held "Lak Muang") which is made of an Acacia wood (Chaiyaphreuk) before the construction of the city for a major goal to build a city and to be the centre of soul for the citizens.
Sala Thai
A sala Thai is an open pavilion used as a meeting place and to protect people from sun and rain. Most are open on all four sides.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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