138 professional / studio TARYN TARA Cafe and Stay For example, the appearance may not look simple, but the function is simple. Or the functions are complicated, but the design that comes out looks simple and clean. Here it also depends on the briefs, limitations, and requirements, or functional needs, of the client.
S.O.S ARCHITECTS 139 How did S.O.S Architects start? And where does the name S.O.S Architects come from? Chaikla Dangboon: After we graduated from CMU, we applied for regular jobs, just like everyone else. But it all started with looking for a side job, so we accepted part-time design work along with regular work. Every evening there will be me, Tawanshine Intarachit, and another friend who has now gone out to do something else. Then three of us agreed that after one had cleared his own duties, we would come together to work. We did this for a while until we had more work; sometimes we needed to meet the clients, sometimes to do the site visit. These things were getting more and more. So I decided to quit my full-time job to take care of each part of the job. Now it has been probably about <strong>12</strong> years already. As for the studio name SOS, it came accidentally from the art4d magazine. At that time, we couldn’t agree on the name of the studio. So I opened one page of art4d, and we just thought that if we found something interesting on that page, we would use that for the name of the studio (laughs); hopefully, we would get some nice words! But the page turned out to be a light bulb advertisement with the title Sense and Simplicity, which could be abbreviated as S.A.S. But we think it’s strange. So we just switched to S.O.S., which is Morse code for help. It is likened to anyone who wants to design or renovate, think of us first—something like that. What scale is most of the design work in Chiang Mai, and what kind of work is S.O.S Architects particularly interested in? Chaikla Dangboon: As everyone knows, in Chiang Mai, most of the jobs are in the categories of houses, hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops. Initially, our studio got quite a few of this type of work, but the scale was not very big, about 200–350 square meters. Only later do we have larger projects, like big houses or hotels. If you ask, I would say we are interested in all types of buildings, either those we have done before or those we have never had any chance to do. Because I feel that each project will be different according to the brief, problem, and limitations, and naturally, designs and styles are also different, But in the past, most of our work was in hotels and coffee shops since the north, whether it’s Chiang Rai, Lampang, or Lamphun, is a tourist area, and there are a lot of these types of buildings. Anyway, after we started to promote our work on social media, we got wider followers and drew more people to see more of our work, and we got other types of work coming in, including work in other parts of the country or other provinces as well. Would you share with us a few examples of works that impressed you? Chaikla Dangboon: There is a house that I really like. The briefs and requirements from the client are quite interesting. The owner is quite introverted and doesn’t socialize much, so the exterior, or outer walls, of the house were designed to be rather solid and look quite enclosed from the outside. But the inside was designed to get good natural light. Plus, the owner likes to try new materials, so there is a lot for us to try out and experiment with design. It’s a fun project. And then there is another house in Mae Kampong, whose site is next to the edge of the cliff. So we had to think of a building structure in that particular setting, which also has many other limitations and many more challenges. These are a few projects that I am impressed with, and I am glad we have been able to get through them. How has the studio worked from day one until today? Chaikla Dangboon: I would say we always come back to the word “simplicity” from the prank name of the studio, which is the origin of the practice. Here, we also like this word in the sense that we always focus on simplicity in the work that we do. The simplicity here may be reflected in one subject. For example, the appearance may not look simple, but the function is simple. Or the functions are complicated, but the design that comes out looks simple and clean. Here it also depends on the briefs, limitations, and requirements, or functional needs, of the client. Our works and the work that we have done, therefore, are quite diverse because, in the beginning, we got many types of jobs so that we know the way of our work. Now everything seems to fall more into place, be more organized, and be more systematic than ever before. I think this should be a matter of experience over time since we have been open for more than ten years now. And in the future, I believe that we will maintain what we have and rearrange some guidelines to suit us more and more. That is because, whether it’s design or work, it has to be adapted to the times. facebook.com/sosarchitect
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