Space Planning and Design
How much space do we require for our daily needs? This was the first question that came to my mind after visiting Ban Panthom. The residents of Baan Panthom go on with their normal lives in a very small space, which sometimes they even share with their pet animals. Narrow streets with vehicles passing through every now and then, hawker carts selling local food, old folks sitting alongside the canal chatting with each other, and kids playing on the streets are few things that best describe the relationship between the place and the people of Ban Phantom. The long-time residents love this place and would like to stay there forever.
During the fieldwork today, we did a measure survey and recording of a house that has more than forty residents. The original spaces are sub-divided by modern partitions to accommodate several immigrants looking for cheap place in the middle of Bangkok. And all residents share common facilities such as lavatories, toilets, laundry, etc. It was really interesting for me to discover so many (non-related) people living together under one roof and sharing spaces and memories. As someone who has been born and brought up in a city, private spaces are paramount for most city dwellers as the present generation is turning into a Facebook society rather than face-to-face society.
We have six Muslim participants in the Field School who tend to pray five times a day. And to my surprise (Thailand being predominantly Buddhists) we found a small mosque known as Ban Tuk Din at the short distance from our fieldwork area. It turns out that this mosque is an urban infill built between houses. Although it was compact, but comfortable space for us to pray as the ablution and praying spaces were well connected.
The mosque has three levels. On the ground, it offered a separate covered area for female users to prepare before praying. In contrast to mosques in Malaysia (my home country), which generally has a large area of the mosque structure, but not Muslim women-friendly design. What is Muslim women-friendly design? For example, areas designated for women placed far away from the main prayer hall or women's area are placed right in an open area without much consideration that they require privacy for preparations and praying. It may be beneficial for the plan, but certainly unsuitable for Muslim women of Malaysia. It is unfortunate that most designers focus on the aesthetics of the building and not on the needs of its future occupants. I believe that the world presently requires more users’ friendly buildings rather than iconic buildings. This should be true for the places of the worship as well. From my visit to Ban Panthom community today, I learnt to appreciate the significance of efficient space design keeping in mind the users’ needs and aspirations.