The economic crisis in 1997 left tens of thousands of bankrupted companies and rendered more than 2.7 million of people jobless. In order to recover from the impact, Thailand’s government shifted from a reliance on the labor-intensive model for mass production to a strategy focused on creative industry supported by high-end manufacturing and services. The economic reform brought about social, cultural and economic resurgence encompassing various industries, including fashion, animation, food, car, and tourism. On the one hand, the government pumped abundant resources into creative industries to strengthen the nation's design ability and related developments. On the other, state policies encouraging international investors are implemented to integrate the national and international soft- and hardware resources. The effort successfully gains the country a foothold in today’s international arena of architecture.

The exhibition invited some examples of Thai contemporary architecture designed by architectural firms in Thailand, including Architectkidd, all(zone), Bangkok Project Studio, CHAT architects, Department of ARCHITECTURE, Stu/D/O Architects, Supermachine Studio and Walllasia. Some of these architects were born around 1970 and have completed their education first at the Chulalongkorn University and then at some of the top institutes in theUnited States and Europe. The rest of them were educated and have been practicing abroad for many years. Despite the difference in background, all of them choose Bangkok as their base camp to express their ideas in architecture, such as “humble autonomy”, “harmonious design strategy”, and “sustainable construction management.”