On His Majesty's Service: Bangkok's architects between autonomy and heteronomy: Fid-Bau Portal

On His Majesty's Service: Bangkok's architects between autonomy and heteronomy

Ünaldi, Serhat

This paper takes the example of ‘Siam’, the modern city centre of Bangkok, to analyse how architects cope with traditional power structures, torn as they are between the autonomy ascribed to their profession by architectural discourse and the practical heteronomy of their work. Most of the land around ‘Siam’ is owned by Thailand's Royal Family and the monarchy's investment arm. Hence, local and international architects had to develop the prestigious shopping arcades and hotels that cluster along ‘Siam's’ main road Rama I in the interest of a powerful client: the monarchy and its conservative guardians. Kingship has retained a hegemonic position in Thai politics and society, and is protected against criticism by harsh anti-defamation laws. Architects have to deal with this traditional-authoritarian power apparatus, thereby risking abandoning their creative freedom completely. Based on interviews with professionals from France, Thailand and Singapore the paper analyses how the external forces architects encounter in Bangkok impact on their work. Especially in the context of non-European societies the question arises anew whether the autonomy ascribed to architects is nothing more than a mere chimera.