Thammasat Secondary School’s landscape designed by Arsomsilp Community and Environment Architect and Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts received an IFLA AAPME AWARDS 2020’s in the category of “Award of Excellence: Analysis Master Planning” presented by IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) under the concept of Global Call for Resilience. There are over 280 submissions from Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The award recognizes the projects that have successfully promoted climate changed adaptation, responsible practices, and the pursuit of joint efforts to address environmental issues. The award is conferred to the Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education, Thammasat University as a honorable recognition.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anuchat Poungsomlee, Dean of Thammasat University’s Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education stated that the faculty collaborated with the landscape architect team from Arsomsilp Community and Environment Architect and Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts to brainstorm the concept of landscape design for the 21stcentury teaching and learning building for Thammasat Secondary School to comply with the university policy which focuses on student development with the new “Active Learning” approach.

Thammasat Secondary School covers an area of 19 rai, divided into 2 areas. The first area is the connection between inside and outside school. With the active learning approach, the learning and teaching are not only within the classrooms. The external surroundings could also be the sources of learning which would benefit not only the students, but also the teachers, staffs, parents, and those who enter the premises.

The second area is the area outside of the building with a variety of ecosystems that support different learning approaches. The area is divided into minor zones with the concept of “how to help students grow and have an in-depth learning on nature and environment” in which they can absorb into their daily lives. There are spaces for creative activities such as arts and culture, sport and music area as well as area for ecological activities such as vegetable gardening. Students will have the areas to explore around agriculture and evergreen forest simulation to further develop their skills and knowledge in various dimensions, said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anuchat Poungsomlee.

IFLA AAPME Awards 2020 is a global award initiated by three regional associations which are IFLA

APR, IFLA AFRICA and IFLA MIDDLE. The award was originated in 2018 to serve as an advocacy platform for the important responsibility of landscape architects in dynamic environment. The
award focuses on recognizing exemplary projects that promote climate change adaptation, responsible practice, and the pursuit of joint efforts to address issues of resilience building. As a result, the award has successfully raised the environmental awareness among the architecture community ever since. This year, there were a total of 143 entries being recognized with this award.