In our latest Guess Who’s in Town conversation, Kulapat Yantrasast (
@thekulaparty ), architect, designer and founding partner of WHY (
@why_site ), joined writer Caroline Roux to reflect on architecture’s role in shaping imagined communities, and how museums can become vessels for belonging, curiosity and connection.
Originally from Thailand and now based in Los Angeles, Kulapat spoke about studying architecture in Japan under mentors including Tadao Ando, his fascination with Japanese gardens and his PhD research on the fluidity of water lodging inspired by Thailand’s canals.
For Kulapat, museums are spaces of empathy, one of the few places where people intentionally encounter something foreign: foreign art, cultures, perspectives and worlds. “The most interesting visitor isn’t the local,” he reflected, “it’s the young child seeing foreign art for the first time.”
He also argued how museums used to be businesses of information, but with ChatGPT and Google, that role has shifted. Today, museums have to become businesses of inspiration, where people feel moved. Much of his career has therefore been focused on creating installations and spaces that speak to people; to trigger interest in going on their own research journey.
They also discussed major projects currently underway at WHY, including the Dib Museum in Bangkok and the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum in India, envisioned as the world’s largest museum and set to open its first gallery by the end of 2026.
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Photographs by Anna-Rose McChesney (
@annarose_mcchesney )
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