Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses

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End date: 2022 × Type: PhD thesis × Subject: Architecture and society × Subject: Architecture ×

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    Aesthetics and change in the Tai cultural landscapes of Mae Hong Son, Thailand
    Nasongkhla, Sirima ( 2008)
    This research studies landscape transformations in Tal culture and the sociocultural perceptions of those changes pertinent to landscape aesthetics. Theories of landscape aesthetics are examined through a review of the East and West aesthetic traditions, revealing little interpretation of the significance of local history, knowledge and subtle cultural meanings manifest in everyday life. The thesis then examines the history of the Tai (Shan) ethnic group of South East Asia demonstrating how their culture has differed from those of the Siamese-Thai and Karen. A set of research questions is formulated in order to study the current local perceptions of landscape change (physical, political and socio-cultural aspects) and investigate cultural knowledge, values and meanings that might be integral to the aesthetics of landscape. Change is first investigated from the 1950s to the 2000s using desk-top analyses and archives to explore the cultural memories associated with the Tai (Shan) population which dominates in the region of Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. The research then uses methods derived from ethnography, phenomenology and semiotics to study the local aesthetic perceptions of landscape change so that cultural experiences can be considered. By applying qualitative techniques of data collection derived from these approaches - field and participant observation, interviews, cognitive maps and photographic narratives by the local inhabitants - experiences and meanings are described and analysed. The findings reveal first how the landscape changes along the spatial continuum over time and how these changes affect local ecology and livelihoods. Secondly, the findings reveal how everyday life experiences, Buddhist ethics and aesthetics, and a long ethnic tradition associated with these landscapes, construct multiple symbolic meanings. Thirdly, a multicultural discourse of conflicting ideologies is identified, underpinning Tai, Siamese-Thai and Karen concepts of landscape aesthetics, which are sociocultural and manifest themselves in human/spiritual ecology, a sense of community, symbolic meanings and cultural ideologies. Fourthly, the thesis synthesizes a holistic perspective of landscape aesthetics and proposes that contemporary theory is expanded to incorporate local values such as aesthetic perceptions of ecology, spirituality and emotions. Finally, the thesis considers the methodological implications for future research in landscape aesthetics and the implications of ethnographic and phenomenological methods for landscape planning.