MahaNakhon: Is this the world’s craziest new skyscraper?

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in July 2016.

German architect Ole Scheeren has been transforming Asian skylines with his signature geometric style for over a decade. From the gravity-defying CCTV tower in Beijing to The Interlace in Singapore – which was awarded World Building of the Year 2015 – Scheeren likes to challenge traditional notions of what constitutes a skyscraper.

“I don’t believe in a very formulaic architecture where it’s essentially the same formal language that is applied to any part or place in the world,” the former partner of Rem Koolhaas’ firm OMA and now principal architect of Buro Ole Scheeren explains.

“If you look at my buildings, they are not all the same. They are different because different situations inspire and require very different answers.”

Bangkok rising

In line with that philosophy, MahaNakhon – Scheeren’s pixelated vision of a luxury mixed-use tower situated in Bangkok’s business district – looks little like the rest of his repertoire.

Mahanakhon, Bangkok —

"I don't have this sense of letting go or parting so much, when I design a building," says Scheeren. "I never design it for myself to begin with. I design it for the people that will ultimately own it, or inhabit it or work in it, or live in it."

CCTV, Beijing —

Nicknamed "big pants" by the locals, Beijing's CCTV tower house's China's Central Television station. Designed in conjunction with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the building punctuates the skyline of the city's CBD.

The Interlace, Singapore —

The Interlace, a residential complex in Singapore, was named World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival in 2015.

The Interlace, Singapore —

Renowned British architect Peter Cook -- who was one of the jury that decided the award -- called the building a "game changer." "The Interlace makes a major urban statement (and) gives you a horizontal city," he said.

Collaborative Cloud, Berlin —

The 'Collaborative Cloud' was designed as the new headquarters for one of the largest digital publishing houses in Europe and consists of flexible and informal work spaces.

Collaborative Cloud, Berlin —

A public passage that connects the two surrounding plazas traverses the building and retraces the path of the former border between East and West Germany.

MahaNakhon, Bangkok —

Ole Scheeren's MahaNakhon will be the tallest skyscraper to punctuate Bangkok's skyline when it is completed at the end of the year.

Mahanakhon, Bangkok —

Based on the shape of an extruded square, the building's central tower rises up and connects a large number of small-scale geometric extrusions to create the image of an unfinished building, or a Jenga game in progress.

1500 West Georgia, Vancouver —

Although much of his work is in Asia, Scheeren designed this residential mixed-use high-rise in Vancouver, Canada. The building design is intended to incorporate horizontal living into a slender tower.

Mahanakhon, Bangkok —

"MahaNakhon is a vision of a tower that is very much about process, about becoming, about developing," Scheeren says of the building.

1500 West Georgia, Vancouver —

The tower will be built in Vancouver. Its protruding three-dimensional units are intended to maximize views of the water, parks and city.

Archipelago Cinema, Thailand —

Scheeren doesn't just transform skylines. This floating Archipelago Cinema was designed for Thailand's Film on the Rocks Festival in 2012.

Archipelago Cinema, Thailand —

Its design was inspired by techniques local fisherman use to build floating lobster farms.

Archipelago Cinema, Thailand —

Guests were taken by boat to the floating cinema -- a modular structure assembled on the waters of Nai Pi Lae lagoon, Kudu Island -- and watched a film that was projected onto a screen built into the rocks.

Guardian Art Center, Beijing —

A combined art museum and auction house, the Guardian Art Center will be completed in 2017 near Beijing's famed Forbidden City. The hybrid space, designed for China's oldest art auction house, will also include several restaurants and a 120-room hotel.

Guardian Art Center, Beijing —

The building intends to situate itself among the surrounding historic courtyards and alleyways using traditional Chinese materials, colors and textures. The facade will incorporate Chinese symbols while oversized bricks -- which represent civil society and values -- comprise the upper ring of the building.

DUO, Singapore —

Scheeren designed DUO, a twin tower, mixed-use, high rise development for a Malaysian-Singaporean joint venture. The architect intended for the buildings to be defined by the spaces they create.

DUO, Singapore —

The two towers create a "civic nucleus" in the center of the development that connects Singapore's commercial corridor to the city's historic Kampong Glam district.

CCTV, Beijing —

"As an architect you always live in a very projective world -- you have to see things that are not there yet and you have to look at things that are there," says Scheeren. "Find something in those to produce what you want to see."

Angkasa Raya, Kuala Lumpur —

Situated beside the city's famous Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur's Angkasa Raya tower will be 268 meters high upon completion and will house a four-story tropical garden in its middle.

How architect Ole Scheeren builds stories with skyscrapers

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Based on the shape of an extruded square, the building’s central tower rises up and connects a large number of small-scale geometric extrusions to create the image of an unfinished building, or a Jenga game in progress.

“MahaNakhon is a vision of a tower that is very much about process, about becoming, about developing,” Scheeren says of the building.

The architect himself lived in Bangkok in the late 1990s, an experience he says connected him deeply to the city’s fabric and people.

The Interlace, Singapore

During that time, he spent six months mapping the city’s “visions of the future” – some 250 unfinished towers that would never be actualized largely due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the country’s political instability.

“Bangkok revealed itself as a place co-existing simultaneously between a presence of an incredibly strong past, and yet a commitment to a very futuristic and fearless relationship to urbanity,” he recalls.

This contradictory mix of tradition and modernity has given Bangkok an eclectic skyline that hosts some of the craziest architecture on the planet according to Scheeren.

“It has a robot building, an elephant building, pyramids buildings, UFOs…all of that juxtaposed with traditional Thai temples, colors and textures.”

Capturing intensity with space

MahaNakhon itself has withstood two revolutions, a coup and nationwide flooding in recent years but it will become the city’s tallest skyscraper upon its completion later this year – “a testament of strength” according to Scheeren.

But while the building may tower above this sprawling metropolis, Scheeren says the design’s distinct fa?ade and use of space is intended to strike an ongoing dialogue with the city and capture its intensity.

The MahaNakhon

“The intensity of the traffic, the noise, the spaces of the colors, it’s important to capture the river…it’s also the smaller scale alleys, the small grain of city,” he says.

It’s play with space is also used to provide relief to what Scheeren believes are the building’s most important component – its inhabitants.

“I believe in the interest of space and also the power of space to do something to the people that inhabit it,” Scheeren says.

“By revealing the people that are in the tower, you are suddenly connected back to the urban life of the city, the public realm…the public inhabitance is a very strong theme in a way.”