Tonkao Panin brings an authentic Thai perspective to the dialogue surrounding Habitus House of the Year. Here's what she has to say about the 2019 selection.

Habitus House of the Year represents diversity of not only architecture but also socio-cultural conditions. It offers visions of architectural possibilities and creates a dialogue among carefully selected houses within the region. Different ways of thinking and approaching architecture thus lead to productive common ground in contemporary architectural practice. And through such diversity, architectural solutions that Habitus offers become both regional and universal.

Two houses from Thailand are featured: Research Studio Panin’s design of a family home in Sriracha and Anonym Studio’s recently built Bangkok home that belongs to a larger residential compound. These two houses do share something in common. Differing in their spatial-formal configuration as well as stylistic appearances, they both address the relationship between the buildings and their topography through their levels and enclosures. Likewise they both focus on an integral relationship between the places and activities their inhabitants engage in. Both houses are conceived from a close connection between interior organisation and outer natural context, creating a unified whole that belongs to the place they are situated.

Yet Thailand is only a small part of the region Habitus emcompasses. That the entire region is equally represented is important because for the past two decades, architecture has encountered many challenges. Faced with global environmental crises, striving to save and protect our environment has become a common goal in all professional arenas. But many architectural questions are still left unanswered. Various ways of thinking and practicing have emerged and shaped the way architects see buildings. One of our many aims is thus to uncover the various types of balance within the dynamism of architectural practice and to bring forth the question of balance. Neither to find a common ground nor absolute agreement in architectural production, balance is a means to understand different directions or approaches that are being critically practiced today. The balance we find in the Habitus House of the Year special edition thus represents both the theoretical inquiry and the critical practice that partake in the potential of architectural design to draw from the past and the present towards the future.

Habitus House of the Year
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Habitus House Of The Year wouldn’t exist without the support of our friends, colleagues and regular collaborators in the industry. We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to our Major Partners Gaggenau, StylecraftHOME and Zip and Supporting Partners Armadillo & Co and Earp Bros. Our Trophy Partner Axolotl and our Accommodation Partner Ovolo Laneways. Likewise we would like to recognise our Television Partners for joining us on our journey to a new medium.