ctbuh.org/papers Title: Bangkok Rising Author: Ole Scheeren, Principal, Buro Ole Scheeren Subjects: Architectural/Design Building Case Study Social Issues Keywords: Mixed-Use Public Space Social Interaction Publication Date: 2015 Original Publication: The Future of Tall: A Selection of Written Works on Current Skyscraper Innovations Paper Type: 1. Book chapter/Part chapter 2. Journal paper 3. Conference proceeding 4. Unpublished conference paper 5. Magazine article 6. Unpublished © Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat / Ole Scheeren Bangkok Rising Ole Scheeren, Principal, Buro Ole Scheeren As architecture keeps expanding vertically, unique strategies to (re)address and (re)instate architectures: robot and elephant buildings, with the skyscraper having long become the importance and quality of space within pyramids, UFO’s and vertical structures the predominant typology of architectural architectural production, and its responsibility reminiscent of Louis XIV. It is a city between production in most geographic regions of towards a greater whole – to inhabitants, the tradition and future, between construction hyper-growth, we need to investigate and city, and the society. This, in effect, is what and decay, between subtlety and brutality. Difference only exists in contrast. But what is understand the consequences of vertical generates its difference, its significance – and there to do when “special” exists everywhere stratification and generate alternative its meaning. already? When almost any type or shape typologies of spatial quality and social or character has already been invented, sustainability in the urban realm. MahaNakhon inverted…constructed? is an architectural prototype that generates Babel shared spaces of social interaction and Architecture as process: The building as a In this context, the most boring might manifests the creation of spaces not only within, dialogue – between large scale and small be the most surprising – a needle. An but through and around, its specific urban scale, between symbolism and activity, extrusion. A shaft. A square tower footprint, context. The project has the capacity to direct between the city and its inhabitants, repeated 77 times to reach 314 meters the dialogue of tall buildings towards a more between inside and outside. Bangkok is in height, to be the tallest building in the a city of many contradictions – and of holistic and comprehensive understanding of its City of Bangkok: a take on the generic. The an untamable energy. It is a city that has place in the creation of cities and social realities. problem of the generic tower is that it has generated some of the most frivolous no connection to the urban realm. It does It illustrates, in its specific configurations, not contribute to the true life of the city, but rather absorbs it and makes it vanish and disappear. The scale of the skyscraper is abstract by definition - it is beyond the human, beyond the occupant, beyond what it contains and shelters: life and activity. The Skyscraper In the 125 years since William Le Baron Jenney’s ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago became the world’s first skyscraper, the spectacle of soaring towers has become increasingly common wherever land is scarce, allowing cities to stack life ever taller, denser and more dynamic. Like cathedrals and palaces of the past, skyscrapers today define their cities’ identities as they shape the skyline. As the late critic Herbert Muschamp wrote of these modern wonders, “Contemporary architects Left: The world’s first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, Chicago, 1885. Source: CTBUH-Norman Ramsey Collection Opposite: Rendering of the MahaNakhon, afternoon view. Source: Buro Ole Scheeren / OMA 26 reveal the inner world in the process of tower’s full height, as if excavating portions components comprise MahaNakhon Square, adorning the outer one.” of the tower to reveal the inner life of the a landscaped outdoor public plaza intended building – both metaphorically and actually as a new public destination within the Although the skyscraper originated in the an architecture that reveals its inner life, its city; MahaNakhon Terraces, 10,000 square West, Asia has embraced the skyscraper as inner scale to the city. meters (nearly 110,000 square feet) of retail a symbol of its emerging economic power space with lush gardens and terraces spread and urbanization, and, in the last thirty years, What from afar might evoke a sense of over multiple levels for restaurants, cafés has become home to more tall buildings being yet unfinished, still under construction and a 24-hour marketplace; The Ritz-Carlton that any other region in the world. Beginning or already in decay, engulfed in a process Residences, Bangkok with 200 highly- in Fall 2009, the city of Bangkok – home to of becoming and passing, from up-close customized single-level and duplex homes, an estimated 15 million people – started it reveals itself to be not a purely formal each offering the atmosphere of a skybox to witness the architectural manifestation gesture but that the erosion generates actual penthouse, managed by The Ritz-Carlton of its extraordinary “inner world” when living spaces: terraces, balconies, floating with amenities for all residents; The Bangkok construction began on MahaNakhon. rooms and apartments that merge the Edition, a boutique hotel with 150 hotel tropical outdoors with the indoors. rooms, a collaboration between Marriott MahaNakhon – the “Great Metropolis” International and renowned hotelier Ian MahaNakhon dismantles the traditional This urban geography of elements is Schrager; and a multi-level roof-top sky bar formula of a seamless, inert, glossy totem, conceived to convey the energy, intensity and restaurant. An observation deck occupies and instead actively engages the city: Its and inclusiveness of Thai society and the very top of the tower and welcomes the pixilated and carved presence embraces celebrate Bangkok’s emergence as a true public to experience panoramic views of the and connects to the surrounding urban global capital, fitting the Thai meaning of city from Bangkok’s tallest elevation. fabric rather than overpowering it. Its the name MahaNakhon, translated as the glittering stacked surfaces, terraces and ‘great metropolis.’ The Hill protrusions simultaneously create the The design further dissolves the typical impression of digital pixelation while A Microcosm of Urban Elements tower-podium typology to render not a echoing the irregularity of ancient The complex, at 150,000 square meters tower in isolation but instead a skyscraper mountain topography. This architectural (approximately 1.6 million square feet) that melds with the city as it moves vertically geography introduces a three-dimensional seeks to communicate intimately with between ground and sky. Generous, ribbon of architectural pixels that circle the Bangkok from the ground up: its series of cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at its 27 base evoke the shifting protrusions of a The Square Sky Bar and Observation Deck mountain landscape and form an outdoor MahaNakhon Square, located in front of the The top of the MahaNakhon tower atrium reminiscent of a natural valley tower, is intimately connected to the space houses a multi-level three-floor sky bar with lush tropical gardens containing a between The Hill and Cube. This dynamic and restaurant with dramatic double- multitude of social spaces. public plaza – intended as a meeting place, height spaces, private dining facilities for a spot for planned and spontaneous cultural entertaining, and a rooftop outdoor bar With its distinctive sculptural appearance, events – will be a landscaped retreat for the with sweeping 360-degree views of the a series of generous, cascading indoor/ city’s inhabitants, a gathering place, a rare skyline and river, floating 314 meters (more outdoor terraces at The Hill – the seven- venue for cultural and social interactivity, than 1,000 feet) above the city. story area of tower’s base housing retail and with direct connection to the Chongnonsi dining. The Hill Terraces fit keenly with the Skytrain station and future rapid bus transit Grain of the City lush, cultivated tropical gardens that give system: an urban oasis that provides refuge way to the city’s own many green swaths. The combination of these elements forms from the intense daily clamor of greater a symbiotic whole which is greater than Bangkok while being intimately connected The Cube the sum of its parts. Residents and guests, to its public fabric. urbanites and tourists, office workers and MahaNakhon also features an adjacent patrons, young and old, all take part in freestanding seven-story building known as The Tower the social ecosystem of the project and the Cube, with multi-level indoor/outdoor MahaNakhon Tower itself has been carefully contribute to the vibrancy of the urban realm. terraces corresponding to those of the Hill carved to introduce a distinctive profile The activity of the city is drawn into the site Terraces across the expanse of an outdoor while generating a set of specific features through physical connections to the Skytrain atrium. The outdoor atrium forms a natural – projecting glass skyboxes with sweeping and public transportation network, but also valley, offering a network of social spaces views and generous indoor/outdoor spaces through its integration with the surrounding with an extensive and carefully selected mix with plunge pools and oversized terraces – grain of the city and urban street life. of dining and leisure facilities that serve the uncommon to high-rise living in metropolises general public via a direct above-ground but well-suited to the tropical climate of As the tower dissolves towards the ground, pedestrian link to the main CBD Skytrain Bangkok. The pixels have been designed to its scale at the base is further modulated station and plaza-level access, Residences in maximize unobstructed panoramas for the to form not a typical wall-like podium the main tower of MahaNakhon, as well as residences, offering rare bird’s-eye views of the condition, but a multi-level topography guests of the hotel.