Robot Building
Sumet Jumsai · Bangkok, Thailand · 1986
Sumet Jumsai's Robot Building was conceived as a witty but rigorous response to the postmodern office tower. Its stepped profile, antenna-like rooftop elements, eye-shaped windows and exposed “nuts” turned the metaphor of computerization into a legible urban character while also breaking down the tower's scale. The original 1986 design became an international icon of late twentieth-century Thai architecture. Major alterations undertaken in the 2020s removed or simplified much of the recognizable robot imagery, making the building an important conservation case as well as a design landmark. The record preserves the original authorship and date while flagging the present substantially altered condition.