chao phraya river landmark by fars studio
all images courtesy fars studio

young thai architectural firm fars studio won first prize in the competition to design
chao phraya river landmark in thailand.

at the confluence of four tributaries -  the ping, wang,yom and naan river - the chao phraya
river begins and forms itself as the largest and bloodline river in thailand. nakorn sawan
municipality and the association of siamese architects under royal patronage (ASA) held
the landmark competition to commemorate and to highlight the symbol of this river
at the particular spot where it begins. this site has an extraordinary context: during the flood
season, up to 9 meters differentiate between the low and high tide. the river on the northern
side of the island has a green color while the southern side is red. after the confluence
of both tributaries, the green and red colors still keep tracking along the chao phraya river
to create a resonance stripe.



the landmark by fars studio is designed to be situated on the tip of the island where
the confluence takes place, in order to revitalize the area while attracting both local
people and tourists from elsewhere.

inside the yom island the architecture complements nature. in one axis, parallel to
the river’s resonance stripe, we optimize numerous locations, elevation at appropriate
angles on the site for people to perceive all the sceneries of the rivers. in one route,
the architecture leads the people to each interesting spot of key locations, such as:
the point where people see two rivers all together; the point where people can see
the whole city around the area; and the point where people enjoy the scenery
confluence.






from the outer side of the island, the architecture becomes a symbol the river, in
the form of weaving stripes. the bridge-like architecture accentuates a visual connection
between both sides of the river, while actually creating physical connection between
them - allowing people to sail through, thereby making the visual connection
alive during the high tide period.






















project: 2008-20XX
location: nakorn-sawan, thailand
status: 1st prize winner
landmark for chao phraya river head
by nakorn-sawan province municipality
and the association of siamese architects
under royal patronage
brief: memorial/ landmark
site area: 6400 square meters.
cost: 200 million baht (6,000,000USD)