The unique relationship between the people of Thailand and elephants dates back at least three centuries. Elephants were used in war and peace, and in rural villages were domesticated to the point where the beasts lived under the same roofs as humans, with their respective lives virtually inextricable.
Deforestation devastated that bond between elephants and the Kui people in northeast Thailand’s Surin Province, depriving both of food and medicinal plants. The province also incurred severe droughts. These events displaced the Kui and elephants to surrounding towns, begging for food or working in elephant camps.
Last month, as part of the government’s “Elephant World” plan that seeks a safe and prosperous reuniting of the Kui and elephants within their homeland, the Surin Provincial Administration Organization completed its Elephant Museum, which sits on a 5,400-sm site and used 480,000 handmade clay bricks in its construction.
Bangkok Project Studio, the museum’s architect, has incorporated handmade bricks for projects before, including the eight-meter-tall walls of the Kantana Film and Animation Institute, which opened in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand, in 2011; and more recently the Elephant Stadium pavilion at Elephant World in Surin, Thailand, completed in 2015.
The complex's curved walls provide visitors with different perspectives, depending on the time of day.
A MESSAGE OF HOPE
Visitors can move freely from one exhibit space to another through entries within the walls.
The Elephant Museum, built by Rattanachart Construction, Ltd., is divided into four sections. The first includes a reception area, exhibition room, library, seminar room, and shops for coffee and gifts. The other three sections feature exhibition spaces that touch on the relationship between the Thai people and elephants; the deforestation that places the elephants’ survival at risk; and a message of empowerment, where visitors can take pride in their culture.
The museum divides into four sections.
More than 200 elephants live in Surin Province, and the museum’s exhibits reiterate its people’s disapproval of animal cruelty and exploitation, while projecting hope for the future.
The museum, which was completed last month, is within a complex of buildings that includes a play area for elephants, a research center, and educational facilities. Visitors can circulate from one space to another through openings in arched walls. Indoor and outdoor areas allow for a variety of programming.
The museum includes a play area for elephants.
Related Stories
| Aug 12, 2014
Design firms invited to submit qualifications for St. Petersburg, Fla., waterfront project
The city of St. Petersburg, Fla., invites firms to submit their ideas for a new and improved pier for Florida's fifth largest city.
| Aug 5, 2014
Shigeru Ban-designed Aspen Art Museum will open doors to public this week
After 18 month of planning and construction, the museum will open its new Shigeru Ban-designed facility to the public on August 9.
| Aug 4, 2014
Jean Nouvel commissioned to design Islam Museum next to WTC
El-Gamal's plans has been dubbed controversial by many industry professionals.
| Jul 29, 2014
Studio Gang Architects, MAD to design George Lucas' museum in Chicago
Star Wars director George Lucas selected Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects and Beijing firm MAD to design his proposed art museum on Chicago’s lakefront.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 25, 2014
Philip Johnson’s 'Tent of Tomorrow' vandalized, damaged with fire
Vandals set fire to a stolen van in the park, which in turn caught the tarp covering the pavilion's 50-year old Terrazzo Map on fire.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.