Architecture and Hegemony on Ratchadamnoen Klang Road Representations of Power and the Remaking of Memory from Art Deco to Neoclassicism

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the representation of power and hegemony as manifested through the Art Deco and Neoclassical architectural styles of buildings along Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, and to assess the impact of changes in the architectural cultural landscape of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road on the perception of urban identity.

This study employs a qualitative research design, utilizing historical document analysis and theoretical frameworks in conjunction with field surveys and architectural photographic documentation conducted along Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, from Phan Fa Lilat Bridge to Phan Phiphop Lila Bridge. The data consists of photographic records of physical architectural elements that have undergone stylistic transformation. The analysis is based on content analysis and comparative interpretation by identifying the characteristics of the original Art Deco architecture, examining patterns of addition or reduction of elements associated with Neoclassical architecture, linking physical transformations to historical and political contexts, and analyzing their implications for the perception of the cultural landscape and urban identity of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road.

The findings indicate that Art Deco architecture functioned as a key mechanism for communicating the transition of the political regime, while renovations toward Neoclassical architecture shifted the visual image from modernist simplicity to a more ordered and ceremonially elegant aesthetic rooted in tradition. The study further reveals that the replacement of Art Deco with Neoclassical architecture has diminished the role of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road as a space that once symbolized regime change and the modernity of the People’s Party era and has repositioned it to align with frameworks of aesthetic harmony, continuity with the Thai monarchy, and the Rattanakosin urban landscape. This demonstrates that architecture serves as an instrument for framing societal perceptions and understandings of the past and present, resulting in the gradual obscuring of meanings originally associated with the People’s Party perid.