Ole Scheeren creates Thailand's tallest tower with twisting, 'pixellated' MahaNakhon

– Ole Scheeren
German architect Ole Scheeren has completed one of his highest profile projects since leaving OMA and setting up his own studio: Thailand’s tallest building.
MahaNakhon is a 77-storey, 314m (1,030ft) tall ‘pixelated’ skyscraper located in Bangkok’s Central Business District.
The dramatic addition to the city’s skyline opened to the public this week with a spectacular light show. The multi-coloured LED display highlighted the three-dimensional ribbon of architectural pixels that coil up the tower, giving a glimpse into the interior life of the building.
The 150,000sq m (1.6 million sq ft) development features a 150 room boutique hotel operated by Marriott International and Ian Schrager; 200 luxury apartments run by Ritz-Carlton; a multi-level retail centre with restaurants and cafes; a 24-hour marketplace; a rooftop Sky Bar and restaurant; and a landscaped public plaza at its base.
A series of cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at the base of the tower accommodate most of the public leisure facilities and are designed to evoke the shifting protrusions of a mountain landscape.
An adjacent freestanding seven-storey building called The Cube has corresponding terraces and forms an atrium space between the structures.
“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,” said Scheeren in a statement.
The architect is a former partner of OMA, where he led the design of the China Central Television Station building. He set up his new practice, Büro Ole Scheeren, in 2010, but a team of Thai architects at OMA collaborated with him on the MahaNakhon project.
His new studio won the 2015 Building of the Year prize at the World Architecture Festival for their Singapore housing development Interlace. They are currently developing the Guardian Art Centre in Beijing, which will feature a museum, auction house, event space, 120-room hotel and several restaurants.
Ole Scheeren Thailand Bangkok MahaNakhon OMA architecture design




Diverse buildings recognised at World Architecture Festival; OMA and Buro Ole Scheeren's Interlace wins Building of the Year
Beijing Guardian Art Centre by Büro Ole Scheeren will have spa by Remedios Studio
Ole Scheeren creates art and culture civic complex for Beijing auctioneers


Saudi Arabia's Neom mega-development to include 100-mile long 'horizontal skyscraper city'

David Adjaye and Ralph Appelbaum selected for £57m International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum project

Virgin Active opens at Milan’s sleek new Bocconi University by SANAA

Swedish architects Wingårdhs create year-round resort with waterpark and hotel for Liseberg

Juneteenth Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group has been designed to inspire spiritual uplift

BIG and HOK's timber concept wins Zurich Airport competition

Christoph Ingenhoven reveals Lanserhof Sylt, featuring the largest thatched roof in Europe

BIG's designs Prague concert hall to be vibrant centre of life

Mather & Co-designed Gretna Green Experience opens to the public

Project to save last major bellfoundry which cast bells for St Paul's and Washington National Cathedral

Perkins & Will reveals designs for net-zero sports and cultural centre in Toronto

World’s first living waterslides announced for Therme Manchester

Heatherwick reveals Volcano-inspired opera house designs for Hainan

Natural history museum planned for Abu Dhabi

Controversial London music venue, MSG Sphere, gets full planning permission

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Glasgow's iconic Burrell Collection reopens after five-year, £68.5m revamp

SB Architects delivers Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Costa Rica with tree-house spa and private residences

Ole Scheeren designs vertical jungle resort complex in China

Designer Brian d’Souza launches Swell to create evocative soundscapes for physical environments

Basalt Architects create geothermal Forest Lagoon in the wilds of Iceland

Hot Pickle design £73m Guinness visitor attraction for Diageo in London

Amsterdam's new digital art centre Fabrique des Lumières will use tech to bring art alive

Pharrell Williams to launch tropical Bahamian beach resort

Banyan Tree curating solar-powered wellness retreat on private Mozambican island

Dubai Expo hits 10 million visits

Foster + Partners designs Dorchester Collection's first hotel in Middle East

Neil Jacobs reveals Six Senses Places concept for major cities

Orient Express returns to Italy after 46 years with six trains designed by Dimorestudio and new Rome hotel
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates