The recipient of the Rice University School of Architecture’s 2024 Spotlight Award is Bangkok Tokyo Architecture. Founded in 2017 by Wtanya Chanvitan and Takahiro Kume, the Thai-based architectural studio engages open-ended structures and the playful assembly of ordinary elements to blur the lines between the ordinary and the exceptional. Chanvitan and Kume’s practice explores resilient forms of living by seeking ways to liberate architecture from traditional, formalized power structures in search of new models of sustainability. Bangkok Tokyo will present their lecture on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at MATCH, in Midtown Houston. Find all details here.
The Spotlight Award recognizes the work of exceptionally gifted national and international architects in the early stages of their professional careers who have demonstrated design excellence and curiosity through their body of work. The annual award includes a monetary component and an invitation to participate in Rice Architecture’s public program series. Chanvitan and Kume will deliver their lecture on February 21, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Visit our event calendar for more details.
Bangkok Tokyo Architecture was selected for the Spotlight Award by an eight-member jury comprising Mide Akinsade, Perkins&Will; Georgina Baronian, Rice Architecture and clovisbaronian; William Batson, Prairie View A&M University; Lonnie Hoogeboom, B.Arch. ’94, M.Arch. ’96, Rice Architecture William Ward Watkin Council; Deepa Ramaswamy, University of Houston; Troy Schaum, Rice Architecture and Schaum/Shieh; Maggie Tsang, Rice Architecture and Dept.; and Richard A. Vella, City of Houston.
Rice Architecture assistant professor and fellow jury member Georgina Baronian also commented on the recipients’ work: “The unabashed pragmatism displayed in the work of Bangkok Tokyo Architecture belies its subtle sophistication, displaying a reverence for the everyday while achieving an architecture of enchantment. Modest yet magical, the recent projects of this young firm speak to larger questions of our present moment—of maintenance, tradition, economy, and adaptation.” Troy Schaum, associate professor at Rice Architecture, said of Bangkok Tokyo Architecture’s work, “Wtanya and Takahiro are reformulating elemental logics of structure and form in surprising and inventive ways. In every project, they are ceaselessly asking if the architecture can do more.”
Wtanya Chanvitan
Chanvitan earned her bachelor of architecture from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in Bangkok, Thailand, and her master of architecture from Musashino Art University in Tokyo, Japan. She has taught at the KMUTT School of Architecture and Design and currently teaches at the International Program in Design and Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.
Takahiro Kume
Kume earned his bachelor and master of architecture degrees from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, and has taught at the KMUTT School of Architecture and Design in Bangkok, Thailand.
Learn more about the Spotlight Award and view a list of past awardees here.
The Spotlight Award and lecture are made possible by the generous support of Rice University’s Humanities Research Center, with additional support from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Funding is also provided by RDA underwriters: MAREK, W.S. Bellows Construction Corp., Harvey | Harvey-Cleary, Tellepsen, Hines, HKS, Inc., IBEW, MLN Company, m Strategic Partners, TDIndustries, TRIO Electric, and Walker Engineering, Inc.