MahaNakhon

Mountains, Valleys, Coils and Pixels

I’ve always been skeptical of the way architects describe the buildings they design. Sometimes I don’t understand what they’re talking about. The words they use are often pretty obtuse and hard for non-architects to understand. (They’re hard for me to understand and I’m an architect.) Unlike other professions, much of the jargon is meant to confuse people because the product is not very good, is just plain weird or is only understandable by the architect who has sold a bill of goods to the owner. (Maybe that’s why so many architects become politicians.)

An example of what I mean is the newest and, for the moment, tallest building in Bangkok. It’s called MahaNakhon. It’s a 77-storey, mixed-use, complex located in Bangkok’s Central Business District, with a direct link to the Chongnonsi BTS Skytrain station. It’s almost nearing completion and it’s certainly a little different. Read how the architect describes this building: (I have bolded the parts of the description that I think are pretty bizarre and more than a little humorous.)

“The design of MahaNakhon dismantles the typical tower and podium typology, creating a skyscraper that melds with the city by gradually ‘dissolving’ as it flows downward to meet the ground. A series of cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at the base of the tower accommodates retail and entertainment facilities, evoking the shifting protrusions of a mountain landscape. An adjacent freestanding seven-storey building – the “Cube” with corresponding terraces creates an expansive outdoor atrium – forming a valley and network of social, dining, and leisure spaces that serve the residences and the public. MahaNakhon Square, at the front of the tower, is designed as a dynamic public plaza, a spot for planned and spontaneous cultural events, a landscaped retreat for the city’s inhabitants, and a rare venue for cultural and social interaction.

Mahanakhon Tower has been carefully carved to introduce a three-dimensional ribbon of architectural ‘pixels’ that circle the tower’s full height, as if excavating portions of the elegant glass curtain wall to reveal the inner life of the building – metaphorically and actually an architecture that encloses and protects its inhabitants while revealing the inner life of their city. This generates a set of specific features – projecting glass skyboxes with sweeping views and generous indoor/outdoor spaces – uncommon to high-rise living, but well-suited to the tropical climate of Bangkok. The pixels have been designed to maximize unobstructed panoramas and offers rare birds-eye views of the city and Chaophraya River. Residences located in the non-pixelated area of the tower enjoy a parallel innovation: double-height living spaces equipped with multiple bays of full-height bi-fold balcony windows – sections of facade that fold inwards and upwards – transforming living areas into indoor/outdoor environments. The top of the tower houses a three-floor Sky Bar and restaurant with double-height spaces and an outdoor rooftop bar with 360° views, floating 310 meters above the city.”

People looking at this building will certainly see that it’s different from a normal straightforward rectangular tower. Some people will like it and think it’s cool, while others will not. The reaction to most big new buildings usually works that way. But I’m not convinced that the general public will necessarily see the building as the architects have described it. They might see it as something that went wrong in the design or construction process that created big gaps in the building. Or maybe some of the pieces went missing. Or maybe the developer was hoping get more money for some of the condo and hotel units because they have more windows. Or maybe they would think that this was just another attempt to create a squarish building that looked a bit different from all the other squarish buildings. I’m not sure they would really go for “skyscraper that melds with the city by gradually ‘dissolving’ as it flows downward to meet the ground.” People generally don’t like dissolving buildings. I’m also not sure they’d get the phrase, “carefully carved to introduce a three-dimensional ribbon of architectural pixels that coil up the tower’s full height to reveal the inner life of the building.” I don’t think so. (Sounds a bit reptilian to me and I also don’t really think you’ll get to see what’s going on inside the building.) I am also not sure they’d get the idea of mountains and valleys, but who knows.

Perhaps the real reason this building looks the way it does has to do with huge alien locusts eating their way through the skin of the building, but that’s just my opinion.

The MahaNakhon will soon be completed. I’ve got some photos of it in the slide show above.  When it opens, I’ll be sure to visit and hopefully avoid being pixellated.  I will also be sure to bring my mountain climbing gear.