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CHAT Architects Reimagines Urban Design through the Raw Beauty of the City
What if the things we often overlook in the city — scaffolding, slums, pushcarts, and makeshift worker camps — weren’t symbols of neglect, but sources of creative potential?
This is the radical question posed by Chatpong Chuenrudeemol, architect, researcher, and founder of CHAT Architects (Thailand). Known for his provocative project “Bangkok Bastards”, Chatpong challenges traditional architectural norms by embracing informal, everyday urban structures — often labeled as disorderly or undesirable — and transforming them into socially engaged, locally rooted architectural interventions.
Samsen Street Hotel: Scaffolding as Identity
One standout project under the Bangkok Bastards umbrella is the Samsen Street Hotel. Here, scaffolding — typically seen as a temporary mask for buildings — becomes a permanent design element. The project reclaims construction materials not only as architectural features, but also as tools for social transformation.
Originally used to hide interior functions, the space is “flipped” inside-out. Social activities are no longer enclosed — they now extend into the community, opening up new dialogues between the hotel and its surrounding neighborhood.
This act of architectural transparency turns the hotel into a living, breathing part of the Samsen area.
Through such work, Chatpong explores how raw urban materials, often discarded or overlooked, can be repurposed to create meaning, value, and connectivity within communities.
Join the Talk at SX2024
Unpack the unconventional design logic of “Bangkok Bastards” and explore new perspectives on urban development at:
(Re)Thinking Inside the Box: Vol. 2 – Better Design, Better Community from an ASEAN Perspective
Friday, October 4, 2024
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
SX Talk Stage, G Floor, Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC)
About Chatpong Chuenrudeemol
Chatpong is the founder of CHAT Architects and recipient of Thailand’s Silpathorn Award in Architecture (2020). After earning his Master’s in Architecture from Harvard University, he returned to Thailand with a mission: to highlight the architectural potential hidden in the informal, unplanned, and often “unseen” parts of urban life.
Instead of idealized blueprints, Chatpong looks to Bangkok’s construction worker camps, roadside food stalls, and low-income housing for inspiration. These structures may lack polish, but they carry a raw purity and functionality that solves real-life problems with ingenious efficiency — even without formal design. His work documents, researches, and reinterprets these forms into a new kind of architecture, rooted in empathy and everyday reality.
Key Discussion Topics (Talk will be conducted in English)
“Small spaces” and the realities of urban living in Southeast Asia
Rethinking urban environments through social, cultural, and architectural lenses
Simultaneous Thai interpretation available via headphones
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