Abstract:
This research examines the international principles of urban design, focusing on visibility and accessibility, based on the related literature and case studies. The aim is to recommend buildingscape design guidelines for mass transit station areas which increases visibility and accessibility at an appropriate level to preserve the meaning of place for the station areas. This study selects the central commercial district of Bangkok as a case study and utilizes the urban morphology study tool to be visually displayed on the actual map according to the intensity of the color as a measurement. From the study, it was found that the major problem is the law that does not address the specificity and differences of the context of each area, especially in the area around the mass transit station which have the elevated structures as apparent physical variables which poses various impact. Due the condition that such elevated structures cannot be changed, relevant laws can be included through a buildingscape design guideline for the concerned mass transit station areas. As a result of the study, the researcher recommends the principles as guidelines for the buildingscape design for said areas as follows; 1) the proportional distance: determining the proportion of the podium height to the horizontal distance corresponds to the perspective of people at all levels. 2) land/ building/ surrounding utilization: requiring publicity to infiltrate the area and surrounding buildings around the station area. 3) architectural elements: all building foundations are required to focus on the architectural elements on the façade that represent the safety and identity of the area. The connection should be transparent. The corner must be cut to the appropriate size.