TransactionalTopography
Bangkok Jose Blanco | Andres Correa | Ivan Delgado
When considering the unaltered Chao Phraya River Basin ecological events flow: Monsoon, Flood, Drought, and the current state of Bangkok, the flow of urban event is at odds with the environmental system. As the city expanded, its urban fabric failed to synchronize with the landscape and existing rhythms of water in the river, due to the inflexibility of the urban typology. It is through improper value accorded to the river that facilitated its mismanagement.
It seems that the existing infrastructure’s aim is to exclude or minimize interaction with the river, which is the cause of social stratification. It may be possible to re-integrate and re-affirm the river into the entire social fabric of Bangkok, resulting in an emergence of leisure experiential moments within the urban landscape. Perhaps the scenario of leisure in a state of crisis is the vehicle for this re-integration. Thus, through transactional topographies water is transformed from crisis to leisure, by reintegrating it into society as a leisure culture it becomes a de-stratifying agent. Therefore, by localizing the collection, treatment, and distribution of water and removing it from the global network we by-pass government barriers between people and water giving free access to the communities.
