The Art & & Science of ROBOTICS (6) – Bangkok’s ROBOT Building
It is one thing to play with robots..it’s a whole other story to design a building shaped like a robot. Today, I bring you Bangkok’s Robot Building, designed by architect-extraordinaire-Sumet Jumsai.
Do not be deceived by its looks. The Robot Building (as I have discovered from my research) is a true beauty with a purpose. Let’s learn more about this architectural masterpiece in the heart of Bangkok’s Business District.
Bangkok’s Robot Building
at Day
Bangkok’s Robot Building
at Night
The Robot Building
Location: Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand
It houses the United Overseas Bank’s Bangkok headquarters
Architect:Sumet Jumsai
Designed for: Bank of Asia
-to reflect the computerization of banking
Architecture:a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture
Completed: 1986
Cost: $ 10 million
The building’s features, such as progressively receding walls, antennas, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance and to its practical function.
Completed in 1986, the building is one of the last examples of modern architecture in Bangkok.
More about the
Robot Building
The 20-storey Robot Building is one of the last examples of architectural modernism built in Bangkok. Sumet designed it to reflect the modernization and computerization of banking, drawing upon his son’s toy robot for initial inspiration. He has described it as “post-high-tech” and “a part of our daily lives, a friend, ourselves,” paving the way for the 21st century amalgam of man and machine. The building’s robotic exterior is contributed by a pair of six-metre lidded eyes, which serve as windows with louvres, a pair of antennas on the roof for telecommunications, and glass-reinforced-concrete nuts on the building’s sides.
The Robot Building was selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles as one of the 50 seminal buildings of the 20th century. Sumet also received an award from Chicago’s Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the first such award presented to a Thai architect.
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| Listen to Architect Sumet Jumsai talk about his masterpiece: Bangkok’s Robot Building Thai architect Sumet Jumsai had been asked by the Bank of Asia’s directors to design a building that reflected the modernization and computerization of banking and found inspiration in his son’s toy robot. (Info Source) |
He is one of the 40 Most internationally acclaimed Thais.
DAILY DOSE OF ART 
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