Thailand’s iconic robotic constructing has ‘misplaced its soul’ by means of renovations, campaigners say

CNN
 — 

For nearly 4 a long time, its cartoonish eyes gazed out placidly over Sathorn, a business district in downtown Bangkok. Now, with its facade stripped again to a concrete body amid main renovations, the tower affectionately often known as the “Robotic Constructing” is barely recognizable, save for its characteristically blocky silhouette.

The constructing’s homeowners, the Thai arm of Singapore’s United Abroad Financial institution (UOB), say the refurbishment will make its headquarters extra energy-efficient and employee-friendly. Whereas the corporate wouldn’t share pictures of the proposed redesign with CNN, conservationists and designers — together with the tower’s 84-year-old designer, who says he was proven plans for the brand new exterior — have expressed dismay at dramatic alterations being made to an icon of Southeast Asian postmodernism.

Accomplished in 1986, the Robotic Constructing was meant to mirror modifications within the banking trade, which on the time was embracing new laptop expertise. Its designer Sumet Jumsai, who was impressed by one in every of his son’s toy robots, is taken into account a serious determine in up to date Thai structure, and was named a “nationwide artist” by the nation’s authorities.

In an electronic mail to CNN, Sumet, who’s now retired, decried the “defacement” of his creation. He described renovations as a “devastating assertion” demonstrating the “ignorance and conceitedness (of) large companies.”

In March, the architect wrote to UOB Thailand expressing concern over the lack of the tower’s “unique iconic options,” together with its eyes, and urging it to rethink plans “earlier than it’s too late.” The financial institution’s response, which was shared with CNN by Sumet, acknowledged that the constructing was a “important landmark” — however stated the deliberate refurbishment would deliver it “into a brand new period whereas paying homage to its heritage.”

The financial institution added that it’ll maintain a reproduction of the constructing’s unique kind in “a nook of the foyer.”

Initially designed for the Financial institution of Asia, the tower was acquired by UOB Thailand in 2005. The agency advised CNN, through electronic mail, that its renovations are centered on “selling environmental sustainability” and “enhancing worker well-being” for the 1000’s of employees who will occupy the constructing upon its reopening in 2025.

The group stated its redesign will cut back electrical energy consumption by not less than 15%, with a brand new glass exterior “minimizing the necessity for synthetic lighting and thus decreasing related… carbon emissions.”

Standing 20 tales excessive, the Robotic Constructing’s flooring get progressively smaller as they rise, giving the construction its distinctive staggered form. Its iconic lidded “eyes” served as home windows for 2 govt suites on the higher flooring, whereas the constructing’s toy-like look was accomplished by antennas — used for communications and as lightning rods — and a collection of enormous metallic nuts adorning its sides.

The Robotic Constructing is amongst a vanishingly small variety of landmarks from the period to have survived Bangkok’s breakneck city improvement. After recovering from the 1997 Asian monetary disaster, Thailand’s capital skilled a constructing growth that reworked areas like Sathorn. Bangkok is now the world’s 14th tallest city, with 112 towers measuring 150 meters (492 ft) or above, in line with the Council on Tall Buildings and City Habitat (CTBUH).

The Thai branch of Docomomo Worldwide, a non-profit devoted to preserving fashionable structure, stated it has recognized the comparatively diminutive Robotic Constructing in its upcoming checklist of the nation’s 20 “most excellent” buildings.

In an open letter to UOB Thailand, printed in April, the conservation group’s president, Pongkwan Lassus, described the Robotic Constructing as an “historic marker” signaling the transition from late modernism to postmodernism — an architectural motion recognized for ornamental facades, ornamentation and a rejection of the mid-century mantra “kind follows perform.”

Bangkok-based filmmaker Dana Blouin, who’s producing an as-yet-unnamed documentary on the Robotic Constructing, stated that regardless of campaigners’ pleas, the tower has now “misplaced its soul.”

“We’ve misplaced one thing that was most likely extra vital than anybody realized,” he advised CNN through video name.

Whereas recognizing the tower could have been considered as a “novelty,” Blouin stated the unique design “felt elevated and refined.” He added: “It was nonetheless enjoyable, and it was nonetheless whimsical. And it was lovely.”

“When it was constructed, it was one of many tallest buildings (in Sathorn district),” he stated. “At this time, the construction is minuscule by comparability — it’s dwarfed by these different glass and metal buildings throughout it. And that made it all of the extra particular.”

The filmmaker’s affection might not be shared by many in Bangkok. A petition, began in April by marketing campaign teams together with Docomomo, had attracted fewer than 1,700 signatures on the time of writing.

Thailand’s conservation efforts and legal guidelines, in the meantime, are principally directed in the direction of the nation’s historical heritage. Campaigners and designers hope that, whereas it could be too late for the Robotic Constructing, different vital examples of up to date structure could also be spared the same destiny.

“After practically twenty years of effort, we’re starting to see a shift from the federal government sector,” reads Pongkwan’s letter to UOB Thailand.

For Blouin, a wider cultural shift is required if different fashionable Bangkok landmarks are to be preserved. “The embrace of newness… has led to the forgetting of a few of these icons,” he stated. “And that’s unlucky.”