Construction on The MahaNakhon Tower, Bangkok’s tallest building, may have recently been completed, but for anyone looking at the massive skyscraper, they may be left wondering, has that building finished downloading?
A unique façade of spiraling cube-shaped balconies provides the building with its eye-catching look, one that brings a pixelated aesthetic into the real world. The 1,030-foot building is the work of Büro Ole Scheeren, an international architecture firm with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, and Berlin.
The building’s design, according to architect Ole Scheeren, is meant to reflect the city in which it resides. In an interview with CNN, Scheeren says, “MahaNakhon is a vision of a tower that is very much about process, about becoming, about developing." And the building certainly captures that idea, as, even in its completed form, it seems unfinished and still in the building process, as if you will blink and upon opening your eyes, the jagged building will have completed its rendering process and appear crisp and clear on the Bangkok skyline.
Oddly enough, however, it is the fictional version of the “completed” MahaNakhon Tower that would appear out of place. Currently, the building fits right in with the other futuristic and architecturally unique buildings comprised in the Bangkok skyline (such as one meant to resemble a robot and another meant to mimic the appearance of an elephant).
The mixed-use building includes retail space, a hotel, and 200 condo units that are under the management of Ritz-Carlton Residences.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Hasegawa, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | Mar 22, 2017
Porsche Design Tower is, unsurprisingly, a car lover’s dream
The idea behind the residential tower was to provide residents with a full single family home in the sky, complete with a private garage and pool.
High-rise Construction | Mar 20, 2017
The world’s longest skyscraper
As supertall skyscrapers continue to pop up around NYC, an architecture firm based in New York and Athens asks, ‘What if we substituted height with length?’
High-rise Construction | Mar 3, 2017
Detroit's tallest tower to rise at site of former J.L Hudson's Department Store
SHoP Architects and Hamilton Anderson Associates will design the 52-story building.
Mixed-Use | Mar 1, 2017
New hotel and residential tower coming to San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood
The ground-up development will feature 255 hotel rooms and 69 residential units.
Mixed-Use | Feb 27, 2017
Tallest tower in Miami to begin construction in January 2019
The tower will reach a height of 1,049 feet, the maximum height permitted by the FAA in Miami.
High-rise Construction | Feb 17, 2017
What makes a supertall tower super?
As new technologies fuel the race to build higher, three primal drivers simultaneously enable progress and keep it in check.
High-rise Construction | Feb 17, 2017
Zaha Hadid Architects-designed building to have the world’s tallest atrium
A 190-meter atrium will rise the full height of the building between two twisting sections.
High-rise Construction | Feb 8, 2017
Shanghai Tower nabs three world records for its elevators
The second tallest building in the world is officially home to the world’s fastest elevator, the tallest elevator in a building, and the fastest double-deck elevator.
Office Buildings | Feb 8, 2017
London office building employs transitional forms to mediate between the varied heights of surrounding buildings
Friars Bridge Court will provide a transition between the unvarying height of the buildings to the south and the more varied heights of the northern buildings.
High-rise Construction | Feb 6, 2017
Flexing their vanity muscles: Some of the world’s tallest buildings have hundreds of feet of non-occupiable space
The amount of the Burj Khalifa’s height that is non-occupiable is taller than most skyscrapers.