Faculty of Architecture Library, Chulalongkorn University

When a Bangkok Map Becomes Library Wall Art — And Reduces Echo Too

| Chula Architecture Library x Trandar ZIVANA |

"Must acoustic ceilings always look boring?" "Can acoustic materials and design be one and the same?" "If a wall could speak, what stories would it tell to architecture students?"

At the Faculty of Architecture Library, Chulalongkorn University — walls don't just reduce noise, they tell the story of an entire city.

📖 Project Story — When a Designer's Library Calls for Meaningful Wall Design

The Faculty of Architecture Library is no ordinary library. It is a space where the nation's future students and designers come to think, research, and shape new visions for our cities and society.

Every detail in this space is not merely decorative, but communicative — conveying a message to everyone who steps inside that they are in a space that values creativity.

The challenge wasn't just to "reduce echo," but to "make acoustic materials part of the location's narrative."

🗺 The Concept That Changed Everything — A Bangkok Map on the Architecture Library Walls

No image captures the essence of architectural studies better than a city map.

A city is the collective work of every generation of designers before us. Every street, every building, and every neighborhood is the product of design decisions made piece by piece over decades.

Transforming the map of Bangkok into a CNC-milled design on Trandar ZIVANA is not just decoration, but a reminder to every student sitting in the library of something greater than themselves —

they are learning to design cities where millions of others will live their lives.

🛠 Selected Materials — Trandar ZIVANA, Painted and CNC-Milled into Map Reliefs

✅ ZIVANA — When Acoustics Meet Fine Art Craftsmanship

Trandar ZIVANA is not just a standard wall acoustic panel; it is a material engineered to support diverse fabrication processes.

In this project, ZIVANA underwent CNC routing to intricately carve out the detailed shapes of the Bangkok map, including streets, canals, and complex urban structures, before being painted to create dimensional depth that is instantly visible to the eye.

The result is a wall offering both visual beauty and tangible acoustic performance in a single piece.

🎨 CNC + Paint — The Technique Transforming Acoustic Materials into Art

What makes this project uniquely special is the two-step collaborative process.

CNC routing cuts and carves map patterns into the surface of ZIVANA, creating depth, shadows, and dimensions that shift with the lighting throughout the day. Meanwhile, the carved-out grooves also increase the surface area for sound absorption, enhancing the acoustic efficiency of the panels simultaneously.

Coloring adds layers of map reading, giving different parts of the city distinct identities and weight. Main roads, historical districts, rivers, and Bangkok's complex networks are portrayed in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and readable.

🔊 Behind the beauty — ZIVANA is constantly working on acoustics.

What most people don't see is what ZIVANA does quietly every day.

In a library utilized by many people at once, there are sounds of turning pages, keyboard typing, soft conversations, and reflections from the floor and ceiling. These accumulate into reverberation that unconsciously disrupts concentration while reading and working.

ZIVANA absorbs those sound waves upon impact, reducing reverberation in the library to an optimal level for reading and thinking, without anyone in the room feeling like they are sitting in an "acoustically treated" space — they simply feel that this is a comfortable place to work.

✨ The Result — Walls that grow deeper the more you look, and bring greater peace the longer you sit.

Once Trandar ZIVANA was fully installed, the Faculty of Architecture Library at Chulalongkorn University received not just an acoustic upgrade, but a new landmark that became part of the space's identity.

Students walking into the library are not just searching for information, but coming to sit in a space where every detail is thoughtfully designed for them. Walls that tell the city's story, in a room quiet enough for ideas to flow.

"The best libraries don't just store books — they preserve an atmosphere that allows ideas to grow larger than oneself."

Project: Faculty of Architecture Library, Chulalongkorn University | Space Type: University Academic Library | Main Material: Trandar ZIVANA | Special Process: CNC Routing + Painting | Design Pattern: Bangkok Map | Benefits: Echo reduction + Enhanced design dimension