Transforming Thai cultural art features into modern product design

Abstract

Cultural product design is one of the processes that revisits local wisdoms’ values by improving and applying that local wisdom to the present conditions. This paper aimed (1) to apply the meaning of cultural objects from Rattanakosin Island, the center of arts and culture in Bangkok, Thailand, and (2) to extract outstanding cultural art features and show how traditional cultural meaning can be transformed into modern products in line with the current product usage patterns. The study proposes a four-stage approach for transforming Thai cultural art features into modern product design: (1) Identification stage; (2) Translation stag; (3) Development stage; and (4) Implementation stage. The study’s particular cultural art features were a pair of giant sculptures at the temple gate. The result shows that the cultural art features can be transformed into a pair of house gate lamps with a modern form but still conveying the cultural art feature identities.