It’s now possible to hover above the pixellated form of Ole Scheeren’s MahaNakhon Tower in Bangkok on a glass deck over 300 metres above ground level.
If you’ve travelled to Bangkok in recent years, there’s no doubt your eyes have been transfixed on the emerging pixellated form of Büro Ole Scheeren’s MahaNakhon Tower. The opening of an observation deck – a 4.5 by 17.5-metre walkable glass platform dubbed the ‘Skytray’ – at its peak marks the completion of the tower 11 years after it was commissioned.
The Skytray hovers 314 metres above ground level and offers 360-degree views of the city to anyone unshaken by vertigo.
MahaNakhon, which translates to ‘great metropolis’, has an urban spirit at its core. “The idea behind MahaNakhon was to take the life of the city and bring it up the tower in a dramatic, spiralling movement,” says Ole Scheeren, Principal of Büro Ole Scheeren, of the 77-storey complex.
He adds, “Even the very top of the tower is surrendered to the public, so there is not only a public square at the ground, but human activity rises along the pixelated shaft to the top floors of the building which are given back to the public domain.”
MahaNakhon contains 200 homes and serviced apartments, as well as a 150-room hotel. Retail spaces, cafes, restaurants and a landscaped public plaza comprise the 150,000-square-metre complex.
The tower has the look of being eroded. A pixelated ribbon coils around the tower, its glazed skin peeling open to reveal terraces and balconies – and signs of human life. The podium is similarly prised open; it is split into two parts that define the outdoor public plaza.
MahaNakhon was commissioned in 2008 by Pace Development, and was the vision of Scheeren who was Partner-in-Charge at OMA at that time. It was developed over the last decade by Büro Ole Scheeren Thailand and its subsidiary HLS.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Inspired by a forest of stone, and created as a place to showcase the iconic Italian furniture brand Zanotta, this retail space is unconstrained in its vision of what a new-age shopping experience should be.
Reinvigorating its local Angsila economy, this pavilion in Thailand becomes a floating restaurant where fishermen and visitors can select and eat their own oysters. No wonder it won The Influencer award at INDE.Awards!
INDE.Award-winning studio, HAS Design and Research, may be young but its projects reflect a talent far beyond its practice years. Its vision translates into a new and beautiful reality designed to stimulate mind, body and soul.
As an architecture practice, HAS design and research is leading the way, creating inspirational projects with ingenuity and originality. They are projects that always amaze and The Glade Bookstore in downtown Chongqing is no exception.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Continuing our new series on the design enthusiasts who work in all sorts of different roles across the industry, we speak to Rogerseller’s Claire Drummond.
Simon Liley, Principal Sustainability Consultant at Cundall, writes about how cyberpunk dystopias haven’t (quite) come to pass yet – and how designers can avoid them.