Ultra-Thai Architecture after the 2006 coup d'état

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 2006 coup d'état was a milestone in the massive socio-political changes of contemporary Thailand. Architecture, as a product and representation of society, did not escape its impact. Architectural projects launched by the Thai state in the past decade, from their concepts to their architectural styles, have been built in association with this socio-political crisis. This paper examines Ultra-Thai Architecture, a new style of architecture emerging from the crisis, as ‘symbolic violence’. It considers three case studies: the new Parliament, the new Supreme Court, and the renovation of Sanam Luang (Royal Field). The article suggests that Ultra-Thai Architecture is founded on hyper-royalist and Buddhist fundamentalist ideologies that attained prominence after the 2006 coup d’état, and that were further strengthened after the latest coup in 2014, which was strongly supported by the Thai military junta and traditional elites. The architectural spaces and forms of state buildings are designed to buttress the political ideologies of the state and to oppose the pro-democracy movement that has been growing for more than ten years.