boonserm premthada creates outdoor seats with elephant dung for NOT COMPROMISED

not compromised launches first edition at milan design week

Birgit Lohmann and Massimo Mini, founders and former directors of designboom, present an innovative exhibition exploring new societal models through art, architecture, and design. Directed by Pietro Mini and held at Liceo Classico Parini in Milan during this year’s design week, NOT COMPROMISED invites the public to contemplate unconventional perceptions through works emphasizing sustainable solutions, including an outdoor collection made from elephant dung by Boonserm Premthada. The exhibition highlights the non-anthropocentric coexistence of flora and fauna, advocating for a world where human presence safeguards rather than deteriorates. This new program foregrounds a commitment across education and public dialogue to advancing contemporary art practice.

Elephant Museum | image © Spaceshift Studio | read more here

spotlighting boonserm premthada

The first edition of NOT COMPROMISED focuses on three stories of social awareness from Thailand, presenting Boonserm Premthada of Bangkok Project Studio, with the participation of Apiradee Kasemsook, Principal of Silpakorn University in Bangkok, and Chat Chuenrudeemol of CHAT Architects. Some of Premthada’s most notable works include the community-focused project in Thailand called ‘Artisans Ayutthaya: The Woman Restaurant’. The restaurant is set in a village outside the ancient city of Ayutthaya, which, curiously, is inhabited mainly by unmarried or widowed women. Aged between 55 and 94, these women dedicate their days to preparing food that can be sold to support a nearby temple needing repair. In tribute to these women and their culinary traditions, Artisans Ayutthaya was born. The restaurant comprises five triangular volumes, which are arranged to leave paths and courtyards in between them and a riverfront terrace. Each volume has a different function, but they’re all unified by the same construction: timber frames and translucent glass blocks.

Boonserm Premthada of Bangkok Project Studio

Another iconic project by Premthada unfolds as the Elephant Museum, which hopes to educate visitors about the animal’s close connection with the people of northeast Thailand. The structure, made from handmade clay bricks, forms part of a larger complex of buildings that includes a play area for elephants, a research center, and educational facilities. Comprising a series of arched walls that merge into the existing terrain, the flexible museum is a network of covered and open-air spaces that allow for various programming. Visitors can walk from one exhibition room to another through openings in the walls, which connect with the main circulation route. Displays can be mounted on the exterior walls and spaces, while the interior rooms will primarily serve as areas for rest. 

Elephant Footprint Seats for NOT COMPROMISED

presenting chat Chuenrudeemol and Apiradee Kasemsook

Accompanying these works are those from Pavilion For Little Seeds, an annual program organized by the Faculty of Architecture at Silpakorn University, in which undergraduate students design and build a small structure for school children in provincial towns of Thailand. Recent projects include libraries, multipurpose community centers, and playgrounds for children in Suphan Buri, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi, and Chanthaburi. The program may be traced back more than 40 years ago, with its root intertwined with the education system and economic disparity between the capital city and provincial Thailand at the time.

Elephant Footprint Seats for NOT COMPROMISED

Last, Chat Chuenrudeemol takes the stage with the Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion, located off the coast of the historic Angsila fishing village in Chonburi Province, Thailand. The community-based project aims to re-vitalize Angsila’s struggling fishing/seafood industry through a new oyster eco-tourism infrastructure prototype. The design draws on and ‘bastardizes’ the widely deployed bamboo scaffolding, traditionally used for oyster cultivation. In use, local fishermen bring small groups of visitors from Angsila to the pavilion, where they can handpick oysters pulled up from the ocean below, prepared fresh to eat. Alternatively, the covered platforms can become recreational piers for local fishermen.

Artisans Ayutthaya: The Woman Restaurant | image © Spaceshift Studio | read more here

A series of public dialogues are taking place at the first edition of NOT COMPROMISED, with guests like Michele De Lucchi from AMDL Circle and Lyndon Neri from Neri&Hu. The full program is below:

Monday, April 15 | 6.00 pm 

Boonserm Premthada and Apiradee Kasemsook introduce NOT COMPROMISED.

Tuesday, April 16 | 12 pm 

Michele De Lucchi, architect and founder of AMDL Circle; Cristina Tajani, senator of the Italian Republic; Boonserm Premthada; Apiradee Kasemsook, dean of Silpakorn University. Moderated by Beatrice Leanza. 

Wednesday, April 17 | 6 pm 

Lyndon Neri of Neri&Hu; Boonserm Premthada. Moderated by Birgit Lohmann. 

Thursday, April 18 | 5:30 pm

NOT COMPROMISED champion: ROXANICH

Freedom by Nature, Long Aged Rare Natural Wines introduced by Mladen Rozanic.

Pavilion for Little Seeds | image courtesy Beer Singnoi

Apiradee Kasemsook

Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion | image © W Workspace | read more here

Chat Chuenrudeemol

project info:

name: NOT COMPROMISED: HUMANS and NATURE at their best!

location: Liceo Classico G. Parini Via San Marco 2/3, Milan

curators: Birgit Lohmann and Massimo Mini

directed by: Pietro Mini

participants: Boonserm Premthada / Bangkok Project Studio, 
Apiradee Kasemsook / Silpakorn University, Chuenrudeemol / CHAT Architects

program: Milan Design Week 2024

viewing dates: April 15-21, 2024