{{Short description|Office building in Thailand}} {{Infobox building | name = Robot Building | image = The "renovated" Robot Building of Bangkok - no more iconic (Feb 2025) - img 01.jpg | caption = Robot Building as of 2025, after a controversial renovation | image_size = 200px | location = 191 South Sathorn Road<br/>Bangkok, Thailand 10120 | coordinates = {{coord|13.720448|100.527311|display=inline,title}} | building_type = Office | floor_count = 20<ref name=sumet74>Sumet, p. 74.</ref> | public_transit = {{rint|bangkok|silom}} Saint Louis Station | status = Completed | completion_date = 1986<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=kusno/> | floor_area = {{convert|23,506|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}<ref name=sumet74/> | architect = Sumet Jumsai<ref name=sumet74/> | cost = US$10 million<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=kusno/> }}
thumb|The original facade of Robot Building, photographed in 2022
The '''Robot Building''' ({{Langx|th|ตึกหุ่นยนต์}}, {{IPA|th|tɯk̚˨˩.hun˨˩.jon˧}}, {{RTGS|tuek hun yon}}), located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank's Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking; its architecture is a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture. 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.
==Design== [[File:Robot Building (UOB Bank, Bangkok) ตึกหุ่นยนต์ 2021.jpg|thumb|left|Robot Building and the Saint Louis BTS Station in 2021]] Thai architect Sumet Jumsai designed the Robot Building for the Bank of Asia, which was acquired by United Overseas Bank in 2005.<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=williams>Williams, Nick B. "Third World Review: High rise battle of Bangkok - The 20-storey robot that is the focus of architectural acrimony." ''The Guardian'' (May 22, 1987).</ref> He had been asked by the Bank of Asia's directors to design a building that reflected the modernization and computerization of banking<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=straits>"Buildings that put a sparkle in Thai skyline." ''The Straits Times'' (April 4, 1997).</ref> and found inspiration in his son's toy robot.<ref>Algie, Jim. [http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/99/1217/art.thailand.paris.html "Building A Name in Paris: The French capital plays host to an exhibition by Thailand's Renaissance Man."] ''Asia Week'' (December 17, 1999).</ref>
Sumet designed the building in conscious opposition to postmodern styles of the era, particularly classical revivalism and high-tech architecture as embodied in the {{Lang|fr|Centre Pompidou|italic=no}}.<ref>Sumet, p. 79–80.</ref> While Sumet praised the inception of postmodernism as a protest against puritanical, bland modern design, he called it "a protest movement which seeks to replace without offering a replacement".<ref name=sumet79>Sumet, p. 79</ref> Sumet dismissed mid-1980s classical revivalism as "intellectual[ly] bankrupt[]" and criticized the "catalogue[s] of meaningless architectural motifs" that characterized classical revivalism in Bangkok.<ref name=sumet79/> He further dismissed high-tech architecture, "which engrosses itself in the machine while at the same time secretly {{nowrap|[... loving ...]}} handmade artifacts and honest manual labor", as a movement without a future.<ref name=sumet80>Sumet, p. 80.</ref>
Sumet wrote that his building "need not be a robot" and that a "host of other metamorphoses" would suffice, so long as they could "free the spirit from the present intellectual impasse and propel it forward into the next century".<ref name=sumet79/> He wrote that his design might be considered post-high-tech: rather than exhibiting the building's inner workings, he chose to adorn a finished product with the abstractions of mechanical parts.<ref name=sumet77>Sumet, p. 77.</ref> His building, he argued, struck against the 20th century vision of the machine as a "separate entity" often "elevated on a pedestal for worship" and, by becoming "a part of our daily lives, a friend, ourselves", cleared the way for the 21st century amalgam of machine and man.<ref name=sumet80/>
The building was completed in 1986 at a cost of US$10{{nbs}}million.<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=kusno>Kusno, [https://books.google.com/books?id=1SSWwAtgkB8C&pg=PA197&sig=SUp5lvq2gUbYKvVeqCnY5UvtvsE#PPA197,M1 p. 197].</ref> By the mid-1980s, architectural modernism had faded in Bangkok; this building is one of the last examples of the style.<ref>Williams & Cummings, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tpoYBZ0i0zEC&pg=PA28&sig=LRa-pBiRNQ08dTQ44kEbvEQyIDA p. 28].</ref>
==Renovation== thumb|Robot Building Bangkok amid renovations, photographed in December 2023 In early 2023, the building was covered up and a plan to "renovate" the building was realised. It was feared that the renovation may removed the original designs of the building as the planned rendition was never publicly released.<ref name = tob /> A petition was launched on Change.org to have the owner, UOB Thailand, revise the plan and to maintain the original iconic appearances of the building.<ref name = bkp>{{cite web|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2623819/crumbling-pride|publisher=Bangkok Post|title=Crumbling Pride|date=2023-08-05}}</ref> The architect Chumsai also has contacted UOB Thailand to voice his concerns.<ref name = cnnn/> Chumsai was concerned with the building's remodelling and stated in an interview with ''Bangkok Post'' that the iconic design likely will turn into "yet another office building".<ref name = bkp/> In his email to ''CNN'' he described the renovation as a "defacement" that demonstrates the "ignorance and arrogance (of) big corporations".<ref name = cnnn>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/thailand-robot-building-renovation-bangkok/index.html| title='Lost its soul': Campaigners decry renovation of Thailand's iconic 'Robot Building'|first=Oscar |last=Holland|publisher=CNN|date=2023-11-05}}</ref> UOB's statements over this renovations were to bring it "into a new era while paying homage to its heritage",<ref name = cnnn/> and have been "carefully planned to balance the need for modernization with respect for the building’s original structure".<ref name = tob>{{cite web|url= https://www.timeout.com/bangkok/news/bangkoks-famous-robot-building-is-goneand-we-didnt-even-get-the-chance-to-say-goodbye-051623|title=Bangkok's famous Robot Building is gone—and we didn't even get the chance to say goodbye|date=2023-05-16|publisher=Time Out Bangkok|first=Top|last=Koaysomboon|access-date=2023-12-09}}</ref> Construction is expected to be finished by 2025.<ref name = tob/>
==Characteristics== The building is 20 stories tall and has a total floor area of 23,506 m² (253,016 ft²).<ref name=sumet74/><ref name=williams/> The floor areas decrease progressively at the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 18th floors; the staggered shape both contributes to the robot's appearance and is an efficient solution to setback regulations requiring an 18 degree incline from each side of the property line.<ref>Sumet, pp. 74, 76.</ref> The building's ground floor is a double-height banking hall.<ref name=sumet76>Sumet, p. 76.</ref> The hall's interior architecture, designed in association with the firm 7 Associates, was designed to further the robotic appearance of the building; four sculptures by Thai artist Thaveechai Nitiprabha stand at the main door.<ref name=sumet77>Sumet, p. 77.</ref> Mezzanine floors located on each side of the banking hall contain offices and meeting rooms.<ref name=sumet76/> The building's second floor features a large multipurpose hall, offices, and training rooms, and its upper floors contain general office space.<ref name=sumet76/> An eight-story parking garage is located behind the main building.<ref name=sumet74/>
The decorative exterior contributes its building's robotic appearance, though it often serves practical functions as well.<ref>Sumet, p. 74, 76–77.</ref> Two antennas on the building's roof are used for communications and as lightning rods.<ref name=sumet76/> On the building's upper facade, in front of the main meeting and dining rooms of the top executive suites, are two {{Convert|6|m|ft|abbr=on}} lidded eyeballs that serve as windows.<ref name=sumet77/> The eyeballs are made of reflective glass; the lids are made of metallic louvers.<ref name=sumet77/> Nuts made of glass-reinforced concrete adorn the building's sides; the building's largest nuts measure {{Convert|3.8|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter and were the largest in the world at the time of their construction.<ref name=sumet77/> The building's east and west walls (the robot's sides) have few apertures to shield its interior from the sun and to increase energy efficiency, and its north and south sides (the robot's front and back) are tinted curtain walls whose bright blue color was chosen because it was the symbol of the Bank of Asia.<ref name=sumet74/>
==Recognition== The Robot Building was selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles as one of the 50 seminal buildings of the century.<ref>[http://archnet.org/library/parties/one-party.jsp?party_id=858 "Sumet Jumsai."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601184314/http://archnet.org/library/parties/one-party.jsp?party_id=858 |date=2008-06-01 }} ArchNet digital library at archnet.com. Accessed November 13, 2007.</ref> The building also earned Sumet an award from Chicago's Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the first such award given to a Thai designer.<ref name=bp>"Corporate Focus: Propaganda coup in decor market; Inventions: Original designs intended to make people ask 'What is this?'" ''Bangkok Post'' (August 6, 2001).</ref> According to Stephen Sennott's ''Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture'', the building "enhanced the world's recognition of modern Thai architecture".<ref>Sennott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=opvy1zGI2EcC&pg=PA106 p. 106].</ref>
==See also== * Architecture of Thailand * Modern architecture * UOB Plaza in Singapore, which houses UOB's global headquarters
==References==
===Notes=== {{reflist|33em}}
===Works cited=== * Kusno, Abidin. ''Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, Urban Space and Political Cultures in Indonesia.'' Routledge (2000). {{ISBN|0-415-23615-0}}. * Sennott, Stephen (editor). ''Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture''. Taylor & Francis (2004). {{ISBN|978-1-57958-433-7}}. * Sumet Jumsai. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110525052459/http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.jsp?document_id=4602 "Building Study: Bank of Asia, Bangkok."] ''Mimar: Architecture in Development'' 23 (1987): 74–81. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd. * Williams, China and Joe Cummings. ''Bangkok''. Lonely Planet (2004). {{ISBN|1-74059-460-6}}.
==External links== {{Commons category|Robot Building}} * [http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b3c0d8d38b4541c34ac29ae649192861# 3D building model] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013130838/http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b3c0d8d38b4541c34ac29ae649192861 |date=2012-10-13 }} at Google 3D Warehouse
{{Skyscrapers in Bangkok}} {{good article}}
Category:Office buildings in Bangkok Category:Office buildings completed in 1986 Category:Postmodern architecture Category:Sathon district category:Sumet Jumsai buildings and structures