Founded in 2004, IDIN Architects Co., Ltd. is the acronym of Integrating Design Into Nature. It conveys our philosophy in both English and Thai languages. In English, it portrays how we can merge architecture with nature in many different ways and why it matters. In Thai, the term “I-DIN” also refers to the beautiful scent after rainfall. Hence it perfectly implies the Tropical climate of Thailand.
Nature can be defined as the ecology around us, the context, and referring to the difference in personalities of people or clients – in other words, the nature of an individual. The design philosophy of IDIN is to merge this sense of surrounding, the ‘natures,’ to the architectural aesthetic. Our emphasis is placed not only on aesthetics but on a dynamic balance between aesthetics and practicality so that the architecture can suit this hot and humid environment and create a meaningful experience.
Working in a firmed company for years and achieved three consecutive Thailand’s significant awards during 1999-2003, I reflected on setting up my architectural design company in the following year. The company name shares my personal inspiration and passion for tropical design and interest in context. Like any other young company, IDIN Architects started its paces in the world of architectural design with just a small team of architects. By that time, the public interest in architectural design was still limited in Thailand. Private houses and small resorts are the types of projects that we carried out during the first period. Looking retrospectively, it seems that IDIN faced the turning points every five years.
In 2010, IDIN Architects received an award for the project “Phuket Gateway” in ASA Architectural Design Award by The Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage. It was a great award for such a young firm. Plus, W House was completed in the same period. Due to its unique character and concept, it had been recognized by various publishing media in the Thai and the international scene. Later, IDIN had been increasingly well known and received new opportunities to broaden the portfolio in several types of projects.
After all, when such new projects had been completed in 2015, including KA House, Siri House, Lima Duva Resort, and Choui Fong Tea Café, they were well-received in several publications and won several awards in Thailand as well as abroad. It was a successful year of IDIN since the works are appreciated by the public audience, despite our small company of fewer than ten people. It was a significant change of IDIN to grow up and ready to step further in the field. Then IDIN had been moving up to a larger scale of projects.
In 2020, another turning point of IDIN is to have the first monograph published for an international audience. The selected ten key projects cover several types and scales of house, resort and hotel, public building. They include not only newly built but also renovation projects. All the projects lively express the core value and concept of IDIN. Each conveys a different response towards the idea: how the design can integrate into nature where the idea of “nature” can be interpreted and interrelated with the project characteristics and conditions. In final words, the ten projects perfectly describe how IDIN works.