Non Arkaraprasertkul

Trained in History, Theory, Criticism and Urban Design at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I am a Bangkok-based practicing architect, urban designer. Currently, I am holding a visiting lectureship in Architecture and Urban Design at MIT where I teach and conduct research on modern architecture, housing/community design, and urbanism of East Asian regions with special focus on China.

My interests concern issues of contemporary architecture and urbanism, specifically the effects of cultural construction and political economy on built form. I was a Fulbright Scholar, the Rockefeller's Scholarships and the Starr Foundation Award of Excellence, and MIT's Graduate Research Award.

My future goal is to educate students through academic collaborations between developing and developed countries in order to strive for the mutual understanding of cultural grounds and urban environment we are living in. I believe that a better environment for happier people is in the making.

My objective is to investigate the condition of contemporary cities, especially Shanghaiwhere urbanization and advanced technological development have occurred at an unprecedented speed. It is in the realm of politics that the contemporary urban structure emerges and becomes the dominant physical and cultural infrastructure of the city.

The tension between internationalism and localism (through the intensity of the condition of cosmopolitanism) has been paramount and pivotal to the making of modern China from the early twentieth century to the present. It is important to understand the course of change in modern and contemporary Chinese society vis-à-vis the notion of hybrid culture in Shanghai through a critical understanding of history and its underlying socio-political structure in regards to the impact of the developed urbanism.

My true interest lies in the impact of the physical transformation of the city and the ways in which both the “Shanghainese” and foreigners conceptualize or perceive their own existences within the city.
This research seeks to deliver a practical answer to conceptual questions: how should we conceive this “hybrid urban” city? And at which degree does the politics of built form impact the transformation of the city.

The first consideration will be of the architectural forms, determined by the progressive direction and rapid transformation of urbanization. It is understood that Shanghai has several pre-existing architectural cultures and the presence of a cosmopolitan society. The inevitable emergence of modern and contemporary building types disturbs the cultural identity and the way people conceive their meanings. The preferred approach to the disturbing of cultural characteristics is to investigate the complexity of the use of architecture in the city.

“Towards Modern Urban Design: Louis Kahn’s Central Philadelphia Plan” Journal of Urban Design 13 (2): 177-95 (2008)

“Politicization and the Rhetoric of Shanghai Urban Form” Footprints: Journal of Delft’s School of Design 2: 43-52 (2008)

“Visualizing Shanghai: The Ascendancy of The Skylines” East Asian Studies Journal 12 (2): 1-39 (2008)

With Reilly Rabitaille. “Difference, Originality, Plagiarism: Building Nine and Panabhandhu School” Thresholds (forthcoming: paper accepted for publication; expected Fall 2008)

“A Critical Appearance of Modernism: Building Nine of Panabhandhu School.” Journal of South East Asian Architecture: JSEAA, Vol. 9/ 2007

“Understanding Sukhothai” in Jan Wampler and Non Arkaraprasertkul. Jan Wampler’s Sukhothai Housing and Planning Studio. Non Arkaraprasertkul, Guntapon Prommoon, Peerapong Techatutanon, Supawai Wongkovit, and Stephanie Hsu (editors). Cambridge, MA: Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2008)

“A Sudden Appearance of Modernism in Thailand,” KEEPING UP - Modern Thai Architecture 1967-1987,” Exhibition Catalog, 12 June - 14 September 2008, Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) (published in both Thai and English, 2008)

“History: Hutong” in Jan Wampler, Lei Shao, Lin Peng, and Non Arkaraprasertkul (editors). Jan Wampler’s Beijing Housing Studio: Liangxiang and Changyang Villages. Cambridge, MA: Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2008)

“An Unexpected Introduction of Modern Architecture in Thailand.” in Robert Cowherd. ed. Examining Cultural Constructions. Cambridge, MA: HTC/AKPIA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006)

With Jan Wampler. “Community-Oriented Urban Housing Design for Beijing: Strategies for LMRHD and Urban Design” Conference Proceeding of the Seventh China Urban Housing Conference. Chongqing, China: Center of Housing Innovations at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (forthcoming: September 2008)

With Reinhard Goethert. “Culture as a Necessary Element for Development Success?” Conference Proceeding of the Fifth Great Asian Street Symposium, National University of Singapore (forthcoming: December 2008)

With Reilly Rabitaille. “Contemporary Lilong: Revitalizing Shanghai’s Ingenious Housing,” Proceeding of the Fourth International Conference of Planning and Design in Tainan, R.C.China. Tainan, Taiwan: College of Planning and Design, National Cheng Kung University (2007)

“Toward Shanghai’s Urban Housing: Re-Defining Shanghai’s Lilong” Proceeding of the Sixth China Urban Housing Conference in Beijing, P.R. China, Hong Kong: Center of Housing Innovations at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Ministry of Construction, P.R. China (2007)

“Politicization and Urban Iconography: Four Perspectives on Shanghai Pudong” Urban and Regional Planning Annual Meeting: Urban Renewal. Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University (published in Thai, 2007)

“Shanghai’s Skylines: Politicized Images of the City,” 106th Annual Meeting American Anthropological Association Abstracts: Difference, (In)Equality & Justice. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association (2007)

“Urban Images of Tokyo” Proceeding of the Sixth Asia Urbanization Research, Kangwon National University and Gangwon Development Research Institute, Chunching City Kangwon-do, Republic of Korea (2007)

Co-Director and Chief Planner, “Sukhothai Urban Design Project.” a collaborative design-research project among Thailand Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning, MIT, Thammasat University Institute of Research and Consulting, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities, February 2008 – present

Co-Director and Researcher, “Study of Housing Culture in Singapore and Bangkok.” in collaboration with the EBA Program, Chulalongkorn University and the National University of Singapore, 2008

Researcher, “Housing Design in Fangshan District, Beijing.” in collaboration with MIT and Tsinghua University Urban Planning and Design Institute, 2007

Researcher, “Typological and Morphological Study of Urban Housing in Shanghai.” in collaboration with MIT and Tongji University, Shanghai, 2007

Researcher, “Community Development of Tondo Foreshore in Manila, the Philippines.” in collaboration with the Special Interest Group of Urban Settlements, MIT, and the University of Santo Tomas, 2006