STORY
The first day in Bangkok I made it my mission to see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (also know as Wat Phra Kaew) at the Grand Palace, which happened to be within walking distance of our hotel. As we walked through the gates of the most important and sacred temple in Thailand, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tourists milling around the temple grounds. But there was one thing that stood out to me and through the crowds, I made a beeline towards it: an impressively tall, golden bell-shaped stupa, which I would later learn to be called the Phra Si Rattana Chedi.
Erected by King Rama IV in 1855 to house relics of the Buddha, the Ceylonese-style stupa (also known as a chedi) is entirely covered in gold tiles specially imported from Italy by King Rama V. I stood in front of those shimmering golden tiles, undulating with the curves and creating a mosaic of gold-toned squares, completely in awe of the craftsmanship of this towering monument. This gilded, maximalist aesthetic was so different from my minimalist design sensibility, but the tiny details that created an overall glittering effect that it was impossible not to admire.