As well as being a basic human need, housing holds a prominent position in the heritage of people groups. Differences in architecture around the world reflect an individuality of culture as each culture seeks a housing style to better conform to the demands of climate, environment, and belief.
Ruan Galae, known to some as Ruan Chiang Saen, is Lanna’s claim to fame in the field of traditional architecture. From its humble and purely pragmatic beginnings, Ruan Galae evolved into a genre of architecture paralleling art itself under the influences of such artistic eras as the Lawa, Mon, Chiang Seen, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Burmese, and Rattanakhosin.