Adulsak "Otto" Chanyakorn

Otto Chanyakorn; kansas state architecture faculty Assistant Professor
Architecture

Seaton Hall
920C N. Martin King Jr. Drive
Manhattan, KS 66506
T: (785) 532-5953
chanyakorn@ksu.edu | Curriculum Vitae

 

Otto (Adulsak Chanyakorn) was born in the rural area of northeast Thailand. Growing up on his family's farmland, he spent most of his childhood outdoors, significantly influencing his appreciation of natural elements. This, in turn, shaped his design approach, with a focus on the experiential dimension of design and the development of a design sensibility using drawing as a gateway to establish a deep connection with nature.

After completing his undergraduate degree in architecture, he worked as an architect in Bangkok and Chiang Mai since 2004. In 2010, he moved to the US and earned his master's degree in architecture at Southern Illinois University (SIUC) in 2013. Before joining Kansas State University (K-State) in 2019, Otto taught various courses, including foundation design, urban design, building technology, and digital architecture, at the School of Architecture at SIUC for six years. At K-State, Otto is passionate about teaching foundation design. His primary goal is to help students develop their design foundation and visual communication skills during their formative years. Otto encourages students to effectively articulate their design ideas and thoughts through imagery, particularly in freehand drawing.

In addition to his design studio and digital courses, Otto also teaches graduate students watercolor painting, using painting as a gateway to enhance the experiential dimension in design that engages various senses of our body. Furthermore, he is currently in the process of developing a study abroad program in collaboration with APDesign and K-State in Italy, which will emphasize observational/analytical drawing and painting. During this program, Otto will lead students on a month-long summer excursion to Orvieto, Italy, to teach his course.

His current focus is developing an effective teaching method in freehand drawing to enhance design thinking, visualization, and communication. Ultimately, his interest in drawing and painting serves as a doorway to developing an experiential dimension and design embodiment in architecture. In 2020, he was awarded the Gabriel Prize by Western European Architecture. In 2023, Otto received the 2023 Drexler Family Diversity Fellowship from The Civitas Institute, which is based in Seattle, Washington, and Civita, Italy. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Otto regularly conducts workshops on freehand drawing and watercolor to promote design thinking for various professional organizations. He consistently shares his creative work in drawings and paintings through his website: www.minimaldrawing.com.