The Contemporary Animists
The beauty of spirit house architecture is its ability to maintain and integrate different layers of spiritual beliefs into one expression.The animist practices to honor the land guardians began thousands of years ago as colorful cloth wrapped around trees, stone markers designating powerful locations in nature and communal shrines to honor the village spirits. When the Khmer Empire expanded, Hindu deities subtly blended with Buddhism influencing the myths, art and architecture of Thailand’s spirit world from the royalty to the local villagers. But the earlier tradition of wrapping cloth around a tree was not lost and is still represented in the spirit houses of today.
At this trendy hotel in Chiang Mai, a charming vintage white cement spirit house is set on a block of recycled wood representing both a tree and Mt. Meru. The standard design practice is to use a matching cement pillar post, but by mixing elements the designer has intentionally created a fusion of ancient wisdom with modern lifestyle design.
