Archinect - Features

Architecture, Consumerism, and Human Rights: On ‘Subverting the Narrative of Power Systems in Thailand’ with Shopping Malls

2022-07-08T15:29:00-04:00

Thesis projects offer an exciting glimpse into the minds of emerging designers and their unique architectural perspectives as they navigate through their careers. This is the case for Syracuse University B.Arch graduates Pin Sangkaeo and her collaborative research partner Benson Joseph. Together they explore the practice of merit-making and how political tactics and consumerism have impacted Thailand's social and political agendas through their thesis project, Temples of Consumerism.

According to Sangkaeo, the project "investigates the role of shopping malls as physical tools of maintaining the status quo, used by those who hold political powers in order to superimpose their ideologies on the collective citizens and perpetuate the systems."

Kicking off this season's 2022 Thesis Review series, the duo discusses their project along with Sangkaeo sharing her own experiences and findings while abroad in Bangkok. They also discuss their plans for the future as both continue their resea...

Wasted Space: Comparing Horton Plaza and The Vessel

2019-07-16T13:25:00-04:00

One is brand new, the other, at the end of its life. One is a place for shopping, the other a place for selling oneself. One, a facsimile of the city, the other, a rejection of it.

However unalike they might seem, Jon Jerde’s soon-to-be-demolished Horton Plaza in San Diego and Thomas Heatherwick’s recently-completed The Vessel in New York City have much in common.

Let us count the ways.

In Focus: Jesse Rieser and His 2D Facsimile to Architecture

2019-01-30T10:34:00-05:00

In Focus is Archinect's recurring series dedicated to profiling the photographers who help capture architecture and who make the work of architects look that much better. In this series we ask: What is their relationship to architecture? Is there a difference between capturing a building versus capturing people? What are their thoughts on seeing their work on public platforms like blogs and Instagram?

For this installment, Archinect chats with photographer Jesse Rieser. Although Rieser wouldn't consider himself an architectural photographer, his recent series, The Retail Apocalypse: The Changing Landscapes of American Retail, captures the beautiful stillness and abandonment retail buildings can represent over time. Specifically focusing on rundown, commercial buildings in Phoenix, Arizona Rieser imbues expressive color palettes and geometric forms with a sense of nostalgia to give these structures a second life.

Archinect - Features

Architecture, Consumerism, and Human Rights: On ​‘Subverting the Narrative of Power Systems in Thailand’ with Shopping Malls

Wasted Space: Comparing Horton Plaza and The Vessel

In Focus: Jesse Rieser and His 2D Facsimile to Architecture

Architecture, Consumerism, and Human Rights: On ‘Subverting the Narrative of Power Systems in Thailand’ with Shopping Malls