Vernacular Sacred Architectural Heritage Assessment: The Case of Wat Chedi, Southern Thailand

Author:

Srimuang Kantaphong1,Thinnakorn Wirut1,Issarawattana Sasipim1ORCID,Noithapthim Narisa1,Saemmongkhon Praphatson1,Garcia Reyes2ORCID

Affiliation:

1. School of Architecture and Design, Walailak University, Tha Sala, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand

2. Civil Engineering Stream, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

Abstract

Thailand’s vernacular and religious architecture is rich and unique. Wat Chedi, a temple in the southern part of the country, is visited by thousands of Buddhists and tourists every month. Despite of its national importance, Wat Chedi is not considered as a historical site and therefore, the site is undervalued. This study aims to assess the value of Wat Chedi’s architectural design and features by proposing a novel point-based criteria based on aesthetic, scientific, educational, and social values. The novel criteria also consider factors such as changes and the respect for changes, which are aligned with the concept of conservation in Southeast Asia. The proposed criteria are then applied to Wat Chedi and to the historic Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan temple, and the results are compared and discussed. The results indicated that whilst Wat Chedi has changed both physically and culturally along with the community and era, it is still a site with significant vernacular architecture and ‘high’ aesthetic, scientific, educational, and social values, whilst the historical value of Wat Chedi is classified as ‘moderate’. Moreover, Wat Chadi’s architecture is proven to be a symbol of people’s spiritual beliefs. It is proposed that the Fine Arts Department of Thailand (and/or relevant agencies) should adopt the criteria proposed in this study to assess other vernacular and religious sites across the country. It also proposed to register Wat Chedi as a valuable intangible cultural heritage site of faith to be preserved for future generations. This article contributes towards developing more efficient tools to assess the vernacular architecture of faith in Southeast Asia, which in turn can help protect important sites for future generations.

Funder

Cultural Capital Management Plan for Wat Chedi

Program Management Unit on Area Based Development

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Materials Science (miscellaneous),Archeology,Conservation

Reference45 articles.

1. Szczepanowska, H.M. (2013). Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Key Principles and Approaches, Routledge.

2. Jokilehto, J. (2011). A History of Architectural Conservation; Series in Conservation and Museology, Routledge.

3. Changes of Assumption in Architectural Conservation;Munkong;Najua Hist. Archit. Thai Archit.,2011

4. Mason, R., and Avrami, E. (2022). Proceedings of the Management Planning for Archaeological Sites, Getty Conservation Institute.

5. Valuable Vernacular Architectural Heritage: Thae Wang Community, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province;Thinnakorn;Walailak Abode Cult. J.,2020

Cited by 1 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3