Technological Institute of the Philippines

938 Aurora Blvd. Cubao, Quezon City

AR 333A / History of Architecture 3

ARCHITECTURE OF THAILAND
Assignment No. 6

Maria Elaiza Ann R. Taguse Ar. Lawrence Dolores II

Student Instructor

AR31FA3 August 06, 2015

Section Date
 Table of Contents References

I. Influences 3
Salvan, George
II. Architectural Character 4

III. Examples 6
Buddhist Architecture Glossary
IV. Terminology 8

V. Significance of the Study 11

Ching, Francis D.K.
 INFLUENCES

GEOGRAPHICAL GEOLOGICAL CLIMATIC

Tropical
  

 
 

HISTORICAL SOCIAL RELIGIOUS

Independence 94 % Buddhism

 
 



 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

Dvararati Period THAI Period Bangkok Style

 Central Thailand (6th—10th century)  (13th-17th century)  (18-19th century)

 Characterized by Burman Buddhist forms  In all phases of Siamese building, the part played  The New Capital was designed to emulate the
 No other architectural remains except for by sculpture, and in interiors, by mural painting de- stroyed City of Ayudhya
fragments of foundations which give some idea of is im- portant  Many religious buildings and palaces were erected
plans but not the style of buildings, constructed of in which Traditional forms were overlaid with
brick and stone, the plinths, with mouldings ornamen- tation of Chinese character, introduced
similar to those of Bud- dhist structures have Three Subdivisions of Style to Siam by refugees
granite bases with mortise holes for pillars which  Surfaces were often finished with porcelain tiles
must have supported timber super- structures  Sometimes the walls are white stuccoed brick
1. Sukhothai Style
which contrasts with the brightly-coloured glazed
 Harmoniously eclectic, employing Indian
tiles of the multi-levelled overlapping Timber
Mon Dravidian, Monpagan, Sinhalese and
Mon-Khmer Period Khmer motifs roofs
 Buddhist Temple couples normally erected  Gables and barge-boards are decorated with
 Center and Eastern Thailand (10th-13th century) on a terrace Angkor- Hindu iconography; ‘negas’ Vishnu, on a
 Angkor style of architecture  Had a central sanctuary, which sheltered ‘garuda’ ( a mythical bird) siva on a bull, etc
 Also mirrored earlier building traditions of the a colossal Buddha statue screed by a high  Doors and window shutters are of carved wood,
wall
mons and Talaings of Southern Burma, who lac- quered in black and gold, or painted or
 The wall had a narrow arched aperture inlaid with mother-of-pearl depicting themes of
brough with them architecture echoes of pagan through which the image was viewed
 The Khmers introduced the use of stone, in and worshipped guardian divini- ties, enchanted forests ferns,
place of the traditional brick or rubble bonded with  Over the sanctuary rose a tapering tower flowers and still life
vegetable glue  The only usually rectangular surrounding
stupas carried similar elongated finials
2. Ayudhya Style
 The stupa was generally circular in plan,
ring-based and bell-shaped
3. Chiengmai manner of the North, Cosmopolitan
influences were less conspicuous, although
here too, the custom of copying venerated
monuments from abroad as “reminders” of
the need for religious observance was the
origin of some of the purest architecture
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
es of the Buddhist countries
brightly coloured glazed tiles and of the various groups with which it has
mingle and associated for two millenia
gables and barge-boards  At various stages down the years, the cultures of
decorated with iconography Bur- ma, China, Khmer, India and Sri Lanka, can
multi-levelled overlapping all be seen to have had an important and distinctive
timber roofs influence on architecture in Thailand
 Most noticeable in Thai architecture are the
swooping multi-tiered rooflines, the distinctly
walls white stuccoed brick ornamental deco- rations, the stunning interior
murals, the vivid colors and the lovingly crafted
and gold-adorned Buddha images

Thai
 The basic thai houseHouse
of the past, rarely seen today,
was simple structure of bamboo and thatch, raised
off the ground for protection against floods and
wild animals
doors, windows whutters  Most family life took place on a veranda-like
platform outside the one or two rooms that served
are of carved wood
as sleeping quarters.
THRONE ROOM, ROYAL PALACE  This model evolved into more complex structures
BANGKOK, THAILAND of wood, varying both in form and decoration to
suit conditions in different regions but always
retaining their essential simplicity
 EXAMPLES

 Royal houses and mansions are typically a

mixture ofRoyal Architecture
Thai wat, traditional Thai house
style and western architecture.
 Teak wood is the main structural material of
such buildings, giving them their distinctive
rich red color. The doors and windows

WAT PHRA SRI SARAPET

Ayudhya, Thailand  The 'red house' at the National Museum in
Bang- kok is a typical royal house and a good
example of Thai royal architecture.
 Royal wats can be identified by usually have
or- nate pediments and frames, which are
sometimes decorated in gilt bronze.
 Like the Thai wat, the roof of the royal
building will have a chofar and normally the
roof tiles are made of finest teak wood.
 The prefixes of Rat, Raja or Racha in their
names. There are only 186 such wats under
royal patron- age in the whole of the country.

WAT PHRA KAew

 EXAMPLES

The Grand Palace

 Phra Maha Mantian consists of 3 main

buildings namely:
1. The Audience Hall of Amarin Winitchai-
where the ceremonies of the Court
usually take place
2. Paisal Taksin Hall where the coronation of
a monarch takes place with its coronation
chair and the octagonal seat wherethe
monarch receives the people's invitation
to rule
3. Descending from here we come to the
ante- chamber to the Chakrapat Phiman
building
 Dusit Maha Prasat Hall
 Here we have an
audience hall with
a throne of mother-
of- pearl
surmounted by the
usual ninetiered
white canopy, the
mark of a duly
crowned king. At
the back of this
audience hall is yet
a living quarter. All
are built
in pure Siamese architecture of perfect
pro- portions
 Boron Phiman Mansion Phra Thinang Borom
Phiman
 Built in the western style in 1903 by King
Rama V for the Heir Apparent, the future
King Rama VI, this mansion was also used
at various times as a royal residence by
King Rama VII (1925-1935), King Rama
VIII (1935- 1946), and the present King
Rama IX
TERMINOLOGY

AEDICULE ARCA-GRIHA CHADYA CHEDI

Ornamental pilastered niche to Image-chamber in a Buddhist shrine Awning, eave Thai term essentially equivalent to
house a sacred image stupa
BOT CHAITYA / CAITYA
AISLE CHOFA
Another word for Ubosot, the Generally any sacred space, but
Side passage running parallel to the ordination hall in a Buddhist temple usually means a shrine or prayer Ornamentation on the top/end of a
nave of a temple and separated hall which has a stupa at one end roof of a temple, often in the shape
from it by columns BYAUK of a mythical creature, or bird or fish
CHAITYA-GRIHA
ANDA CHORTEN
In Myanmar, a temple with a
A temple assembly hall that houses
colourfully painted interior
Burial mound at the centre of a a stupa Tibetan term for a stupa
stupa, usually in the form of a solid CANDI
dome or generally bell-shaped
CHANKAMA / CHANKYAMA CLERESTORY
Indo-Indonesian royal sepulchre
APADANA A promenade for walking A windowed upper level, providing
and generally equivalent of “Stupa”;
meditation light for a double-storey interior
used generally to refer to any
Columned hypostyle hall, usually ancient Hindu or Buddhist temple CHATRAVALI / CREPIDOMA
square in plan, with a portico to one or shrine in Indonesia (and CHATTRAVALI
or more sides sometimes non-religious structures Steps forming the platform of a
too) Tiers (disks) forming the chattri on temple
APSE
top of a stupa – above the dome
CANDI BENTAR DAGOBA
(anda) leading up to the railing/
platform (harmika)
Semi circular domed or vaulted
space, especially at one end of a (Indonesian) Roofless gateway, containing the cult statue CHATTRI
basilica space usually to an East Javanese or
Balinese temple An umbrella-shaped dome or pavilion,
APSIDAL
sometimes acting as a turret on the roof of a
CELLA stupa
In the shape of an apse
CHATURMUKHA
The sanctuary of a temple, usually
 The Sinhalese (i.e. Sri
A four-sided temple Lanka) word for Stupa

DHAMMA-YON /
DHAMMASALA

The hall in a temple

where the Dhamma
(i.e. Buddhist teaching,
lit. “doctrine”) is
preached
 TERMINOLOGY

FINIAL HTI MAHAL KUTI

The object or decoration marking the A sacred parasol on the upper part Summer-house or pavilion a small structure, built on stilts,
top of something (like the top of a of a finial (qv) designed to house a monk. Its proper
MEDHI
dome or tower) or the end of size is defined in the Sanghathisep,
something like a roof edge or gable
IMAGE HALL
Drum forming the base of a stupa Rule 6, to be 12 by 7 Keub (or 4.013
GANDHAKUTI In a Buddhist monastery, the image by 2.343 meters )
MONDOP
hall is the one which contains the
PRASADA
Literally a “perfumed chamber” – (main) statue of the Buddha (Thai) A free-standing square or
used to mean shrines placed around cruciform building within a Thai
IWAN Multi-storey structure
a stupa temple complex, used to house
Vaulted hall with a roof relics, scriptures, or act as a shrine;
GU
supported
by numerous columns more or less the word is related to Mandapa, qv
PRASADA-VIMANA
A cave, at Bagan in Myanmar used by JALI MULAPRASADA
extension to mean any temple that Palace in a sacred environment
has an interior you can enter Lattice of filigree patterned screen Main block of a temple, containing
a shrine
HARMIKA
KRATON PAYA / HPAYA
SALA
Square railings at the top of a stupa,
Court of early Indonesian rulers, a Burmese word for pagoda, literally
betewen the anda and the An open pavilion used as a meeting
term for a palace in Indonesia meaning “lord”, hence often found
chattravali, which originally in famous place names, e.g. place or shelter, usually a term used
represented a platform/ enclosure scriptures depository KUTAGARA often a porch-like structure leading into
with a fence the temple
Pavilion on the terrace of a palace
HO RAKANG / HOR RAKANG
MANDAPA
The bell tower in a Thai temple
Sanskrit word for a pillared
HO TRAI outdoor hall or pavilion for public
rituals; in Hindu temples the
In a Thai temple, the library or
mandapa is
 Shwedigon Paya, and within
for these structures in Thai
names of pagodas, e.g. Bupaya
temples although also used for
Pagoda
roadside pavilions
PHAMSANA

Stepped pyramidal type of roof SALA KAN PRIAN

with
rectilinear profile A large hall where lay people
PRADAKSHINA-PATHA can hear sermons in a Thai
temple
Circumambulatory path or
passage around a shrine
TERMINOLOGY

SAMVARANA STUPA UBOSOT VIHARA

Pyramidical hall roof with tiers of bell (Thai) Ordination hall of a Thai Residential quarters of a Buddhist
Originally a pre-Buddhist burial
-shaped mouldings Temple, also known as Bot monastery, or by extension a
mound; this word is now used for
the pre-eminent type of Buddhist monastery generally
monument, which is at least a
freestanding mound, usually with a
circular drum (medhi) forming the VASTUSHASTRA / VASTU
VIMANA
SANGHARAMA base for a massive solid dome SHATRA
(anda) topped by a turret (chattri);
Storeyed building with receding
Abode of a Buddhist order, i.e. a the bell or dome shaped mound Traditional Indian doctrines of
terraces, used in the south as main
monastery covers the relics or holy objects; as architecture and town planning in
element of sanctuaery, equivalent to
the stupa architecturally becomes wide cirulation by the 6th century
northern Mulaprasada
more complicated, so the word AD – “vastu sastras” refer to any
“Stupa” is applied in general to ancient Sanskrit manuals in these
SANGHAWAT monuments and whole temples, topics
interchangable in referring to many
WAT / VAT
The living quarters of monks in a Thai sites with words such as Pagoda, VEDIKA Buddhist temple or monastery
temple compound Wat, Candi
particularly in Thailand, usually
Railing, especially of a sacred
including buildings open to (and for
TAHOTO enclosure
the use of) lay people

SERDAB Many-jewelled pagoda, Japanese

variant of pagoda with a stupa
WIHAN
Subterranean room emerging from the roof
VERANDAH
A second assembly hall, similar to the
TORANA Roofed colonnade attached to one bot but usually larger

STAMBHA or more sides of a building

Ceremonial gateways in the fence
surrounding a stupa, of which there
ZEDI / ZEIDI
Pillar or post
are usually four, often richly
A Burmese term for a stupa
decorated
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

“...architecture
Thailand, the land of the free. After stating that architecture will always will always be an
be an image after something else, I might have overlooked Thailand, where little, image after
if not ze- ro, influence has been established from a few, if not zero, invaders. something
else...”
If there is any original architecture in southeast Asia, Thailand must have it.

Bamboo houses raised off the ground, steep roofs, overlapping roofs. Alright, I think
I’ve heard that before. But since I’m sticking to my belief that Thailand architecture is original,
I’d like to believe that people, although in different parts of the world, think alike. Let’s just
leave it to coinci- dence.