That day, I was dining at I’m Park Chula, right next to CU Centenary Park. It is said to be Bangkok’s first green infrastructure aimed at mitigating ecological issues and reducing disaster risks. With the changing climate, rising sea levels, storm surges, and unexpected heavy rainfall are causing similar disasters in low-lying cities worldwide: urban flooding. As sea levels rise and concrete infrastructure increases, Bangkok is sinking by 2 centimeters each year. CU Centenary Park was part of a design competition held by Chulalongkorn University in 2012 to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The plan was to use part of its core campus land to build a new public park, which opened in 2017.

Landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom often mentions the “monkey cheek” storage method in some interviews. This method is about creating a container for storing water in urban areas. She referred to the legendary Monkey King, Sun Wukong. (Did Sun Wukong have a similar skill?) Monkeys store food in their cheeks. When they are hungry, they continue eating. If they are not hungry, they keep the food there. (It feels a bit like the way camels store fat.)

“monkey cheek” ©Kotchakorn Voraakhom

Starting from March, Bangkok is almost at its hottest. Before 5 PM, there are hardly any people in the park. The grass on the ground looks quite withered, probably due to the intense sun. Of course, it could also be because people often play football on the lawn. I sent a message to Dai because I was curious whether the many plants here had withered due to the sun or if it was their natural time to fall off. Dai told me that it should be because it’s been too hot recently and there hasn’t been any rain. A large patch of grass in his yard has also died.

During my trip, I checked the weather every day. The forecast always showed thunderstorms for the next day, but it never rained. This kind of weather made the sky look like it was covered with a thick layer of mist, making everything appear pale. The outlines of the distant city were blurred. When the sun wasn’t too harsh, I entered the park. I saw an old man with his granddaughter, and it looked like they were petting some animal. Driven by curiosity, I momentarily forgot my introverted nature. The old man saw me and took the little creature out of the cage to show me.

Uh, it seemed to be a civet cat or a palm civet? I couldn’t really tell. For some reason, the old man looked very familiar to me. I thought about taking a photo with him and then saying goodbye, so it wouldn’t be awkward. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an email or use the social platforms I was on.

“Operation Break the I”

20 Minutes In The Park Effec

At that time, a tag was very popular on the internet - #20MinutesInTheParkEffect. This theory originated from a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research: being in a natural environment can significantly reduce cortisol levels in the body. Even without any exercise, just spending a short 20 minutes in an outdoor park each day can significantly improve one’s happiness and physical state.

But at that time, I just felt hot, really stuffy. I only wanted the #20MinutesInAirConditioningEffect or the #7-11HappyIceWaterEffect.

The guy in the red shirt in the middle was particularly interesting. I wanted to know what he was doing, so I went over to take a look. When he saw me, he chatted with me for a bit and then taught me how to use my phone to photograph his figurines. I realized that he placed the figurines in that position to use a special low-angle perspective, which could blend the figurines with the real environment (buildings) in the background, making them look tall and mighty. (Coincidentally, before coming to Bangkok, I had just completed a similar model photography commission, haha.)

Flickerfest

When I walked to the center of the park, I found some square stools and a screen set up on the lawn. It looked like there would be an outdoor movie event tonight. I went over to check the notice board. It was the Australian short film festival “Flickerfest” being held here. Out of curiosity and anticipation, I decided to stay for a while.

Here’s the translation of your text:

It seems that compared to sitting on stools, many people prefer to find a comfortable spot and sit on the ground. Personally, I feel that sitting on a stool is too formal and gives a bit of a meeting vibe.

These photos were taken on March 15, 2024, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Some of the contents are translated by reference：

American Society of Landscape Architects：INTERVIEW WITH KOTCHAKORN VORAAKHOM, INTERNATIONAL ASLA

TED Archive：Designing urban spaces with climate in mind | Kotchakorn Voraakhom