Thailand’s universities aren’t usually repositories for interesting architecture, but Silpakorn (pronounced sĭn lá þà gorn), the country’s premier art school, breaks the mould. The classical buildings form the charming nucleus of what was an early Thai aristocratic enclave, and the traditional artistic temperament still survives.
The building immediately facing the Th Na Phra Lan gate was once part of a palace and now houses the Silpakorn University Art Centre. To the right of the building is a shady sculpture garden displaying the work of Corrado Feroci (also known as Silpa Bhirasri), the Italian art professor and sculptor who came to Thailand at royal request in the 1920s and later established the university (which is named after him), sculpted parts of the Democracy Monument and, much to his own annoyance, the Victory Monument.