Project Summary
The Medicinal Plant Garden is part of the Suan Luang (Rama 9 Royal Park) Foundation renovation project to redesign the existing herb garden within the park. In dedication to Her Royal Highness (HRH) Princess Maha Chakri Sirindorn, in celebration of her majesty’s 60th Birthday on April 2, 2015, HRH Princess Sirindorn gave her support and blessing for the promotion and conservation of medicinal herbs in Thailand for the benefit of the people.
The concept of design is to convey the meaning of common herbs being “medicine that is nature.” This also includes some common garden plants that have medicinal properties. The pharmaceutical properties of the plants might have come from different parts of plant roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and branches which are inclusive of herbs containing various minerals in natural form blended into the planting scheme.
The overall layout of the site is a large scale representation of the different parts that compose a plant, whether it is the trunk, the branches, or the leaves commonly used as medicine. The concept form is initially depicted as a trunk at the front of the entrance plaza adjacent to the main pavilion. The trunk then branches out into a network of footpaths to resting areas with seating. The Medicinal Plant Garden exhibits plants leaves of different sizes in the main multi-purpose pavilion, which is designed to support activities and serve as a facility or hermitage to disseminate knowledge of herbs. It is formed from patterns of the leaf to help define the surrounding boundary. The materials used to build the pavilion and adjacent spaces include wood, steel, gravel.