CARE AT THE WATER’S EDGE
Vajiralongkorn Dam Reservoir, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
on-going
on-going
Field-0 is collaborating with the Karen Indigenous community living in the Vajiralongkorn Dam Reservoir in western Thailand, whose ancestral forest lands were submerged following the dam’s construction in the 1980s. Today, many displaced villagers live on floating rafts above their flooded homes, their lives rising and falling with the dam’s cyclical water releases. Though surrounded by water, they remain without access to safe drinking water.
Working with the Pilok Pho Village Nursery, we will design and install a rainwater harvesting and filtration system that will deliver safe drinking water for indigenous children and serve as a shared resource for the wider village. This work is guided and supported by the local Forest Tradition temple, a deeply respected guardian of the community.
As a first step, we are repairing the nursery’s existing rainwater system before the next rainy season in April 2026—an urgent and pragmatic intervention that lays the foundation for long-term water security. Thanks to £900 raised by January 2026, we are now able to purchase and install a 1,000-litre stainless steel water tank, a water filtration unit, a pump, and a new gutter section, just in time for the upcoming rainy season in April.
This progress has only been possible because of the extraordinary generosity and collaboration of the local community. We are deeply grateful to our Thai collaborators PuPla TriKaewprasert, the abbot of the floating temple within the reservoir, and the villagers themselves, who have helped purchase, transport, and install the system. This project is not just infrastructure—it is a shared effort rooted in trust, care, and mutual support.
Looking ahead, we are entering the next phase of the project. We aim to fully upgrade the nursery’s rainwater harvesting and filtration system, hopefully in 2027, creating a reliable and sustainable source of clean water for years to come.
The work continues — slowly, collectively, in rhythm with the rains. To follow our shared journey or learn more, please get in touch.
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LINKS
Tracing Sand
Singapore Biennale (31 Oct. 2025 - 29 Mar. 2026)
Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York (Jan. - Apr. 2025)
‘In the Hurricane, On the Land: Forms of Return’, Canadian Centre for Architecture x Paul Mellon Centre, 7 Nov. 2025. London, UK.
Frieze Interview: How a Floating Community and a Luxury Waterfall Are Connected by a Power Grid, 2025.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Project team: Jingru (Cyan) Cheng & Chen Zhan in collaboration with PuPla TriKaewprasert
Research and fieldwork are supported by the Harvard GSD’s Wheelwright Prize and the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s CCA-Mellon multidisciplinary research programme.
CREDITS
Images by Chen Zhan and Jingru (Cyan) Cheng