A once neglected place with chaotic buildings has been transformed into a huge park. The green metamorphosis was carried out in Bangkok, Thailand, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance there. Turenscape architects in collaboration with Arsomsilp Landscape Studio designed the changes.
New York has its Central Park. Bangkok has a similar site in the heart of the city. The huge park was built in 18 months and today is a textbook example of contemporary green design in metropolises. The realization has already won recognition in many industry architectural competitions, including: 2024 AZ Landscape Architecture Awards, 2023 WAF Landscape of the Year，2023 UIA Friendly and Inclusive Spaces Awards.
It’s hard to believe that just a dozen years ago this was an industrial area with a huge tobacco factory and square kilometres of concrete pavement. Today, in the heart of Bangkok, there is a huge park that is largely self-sustaining. What does this mean? Thanks to technological solutions, the entire area of the park captures rainwater, the excess of which is used for later irrigation. Benjakitti Forest Park is now the largest public recreational space for the capital’s residents.
The site BEFORE the redevelopment:
Even before that, the area was covered with marshland. In the following years, the area was drained and the groundwater was pumped away. The aim of these measures was to make room for agriculture. The negative effects of this action were felt by the inhabitants quite quickly. The land began to settle, which, combined with the effects of global warming, resulted in an increased risk of flooding due to Bangkok’s low location and inadequate drainage infrastructure. This condition leads to severe flooding. The green changes are intended to change the negative effects of this.
In preparing the design of the park, the architects preserved all the trees growing in the area. All existing roads were also preserved. Some of the concrete pavement was scraped off and then recycled for foundations and new paving. In the area of the former marshland, it was decided to create a flooded landscape with dozens of tiny islands. The area designed in this way will receive excess storm water during the monsoon season. Interestingly, there are trees growing in the central points of these islands – the trees I wrote about in the first sentence of this paragraph.
Redevelopment:
The remainder of the park was sown with various seeds and planted with tree seedlings. The mixed vegetation requires no maintenance.
The park area has also been completed with pedestrian infrastructure. A number of promenades have been built, allowing residents to immerse themselves in nature. Every day, tens of thousands of people visit the park to indulge in physical activity or to relax. The huge park has already been recognised as a new symbol of the Thai capital.
project: Turenscape
photos: Turenscape&Arsomsilp, source: v2com
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