Decry renovation of Thailand’s iconic ‘Robot Building’

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From CNN

The Robot Building pictured in 2022, shortly before the tower's exterior was stripped as part of ongoing renovations.

For almost four decades, its cartoonish eyes gazed out placidly over Sathorn, a commercial district in downtown Bangkok. Now, with its facade stripped back to a concrete frame amid major renovations, the tower affectionately known as the “Robot Building” is barely recognizable, save for its characteristically blocky silhouette.

The building’s owners, the Thai arm of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB), say the refurbishment will make its headquarters more energy-efficient and employee-friendly. While the company would not share images of the proposed redesign with CNN, conservationists and architects — including the tower’s 84-year-old designer, who says he was shown plans for the new exterior — have expressed dismay at dramatic alterations being made to an icon of Southeast Asian postmodernism.

Completed in 1986, the Robot Building was intended to reflect changes in the banking industry, which at the time was embracing new computer technology. Its designer Sumet Jumsai, who was inspired by one of his son’s toy robots, is considered a major figure in contemporary Thai architecture, and was named a “national artist” by the country’s government.

In an email to CNN, Sumet, who is now retired, decried the “defacement” of his creation. He described renovations as a “devastating statement” demonstrating the “ignorance and arrogance (of) big corporations.”

In March, the architect wrote to UOB Thailand expressing concern over the loss of the tower’s “original iconic features,” including its eyes, and urging it to reconsider plans “before it is too late.” The bank’s response, which was shared with CNN by Sumet, acknowledged that the building was a “significant landmark” — but said the planned refurbishment would bring it “into a new era while paying homage to its heritage.”

The bank added that it will keep a replica of the building’s original form in “a corner of the lobby.”

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