The new tallest building in Thailand looks like a pixelated image in mid-download
At 1,029 feet, the MahaNakhon is now the tallest building in Thailand. The 77-story tower beats the skyscraper that previously held the title, Baiyoke Tower II, by 33 feet.
To celebrate its debut on August 29, the building lit up Bangkok's skies with a fantastic light show. The skyscraper's signature ribbon, which is made to like a partially-downloaded spiral of pixels, lit up, creating a beacon in the capital city's skyline.
The building is designed for a mix of retail, hotel and residential use - it holds 200 condo units managed by Ritz-Carlton Residences.
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture - the firm founded by famed Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas - announced plans for the building in 2009, but the final design was completed by international architecture firm Büro Ole Scheeren. The firm teamed up with Thai residential property developer PACE Development, and the building reportedly cost 18 billion baht ($520 million) to complete.
PACE hopes to sell some of the hotel space and observation decks to a local real estate investment trust next year, the Bangkok Post reports. Some of the revenue from that sale will likely recoup construction costs - as will ticket sales for the building's observation deck, and rents from the other hotel and retail spaces. Gourmet grocery store Dean & Deluca is also expected to open in the building.
But it might not stay Thailand's tallest skyscraper for long. A new structure, the Rama IX Super Tower, is proposed to be built in 2019. At 2,018 feet tall, it would be almost twice the size of the MahaNakhon.