The Metro-Forest Project : Bangkok Urban Reforestation - 9a Biennal 2016

Wannapin Boontarika, Tawatchai Kobkaikit

Located at the Eastern fringes of Bangkok, about 6 kilometers from the Suvarnabhumi Airport, lies the PTT Metro Forest. In early 2012, the landscape architects were commissioned by the PTT Reforestation Institute to design a space for reforestation that would take a unique approach to landscape in Bangkok by emphasizing the ecological processes rather than aesthetics. An ecological regeneration project designed as an outdoor exhibition space of approximately 60,000 trees of more than 279 unique species to cultivate environmental awareness and educate visitors about local forest ecology. The project aimed to reclaim 2-hectares of abandoned land and reverse the trends of suburban sprawl, urban heat island, and flood-prone developments through the incorporation of historically local (native and introduced) lowland tropical tree species. To create diverse forest ecology, the planting techniques of saplings by Dr. Akira Miyawaki were implemented for optimal growing environments of lowland dipterocarp by designing a terrain of engineered berms. The project, which received LEED Platinum NC, is truly a public outreach commitment by the PTT Reforestation Institute and recognizes the forest stewardship efforts by the Royal Family and Her Royal Highness, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn – an ecological forest that reflects Bangkok’s former landscape for public education and enjoyment and establishes a new trajectory of landscape typologies, such as natural wilderness for the future.

Autors

Wannapin Boontarika

Landscape Architects of Bangkok

Tawatchai Kobkaikit

Landscape Architects of Bangkok

Col·laboradors