architect: Supermachine studio

location: Thailand

Driven by technology and social media, people in different ages in our society are changing the ways they spend time. Daily activities and sports can be easily tracked and shared with friends by just clicking devices. Activities seem to be more diverse, active and outdoor as people start to follow what friends are enjoying. We are slowly moving out from a sitting-back and work or going to shopping mall society to a more active one.

photo by Supermachine Studio
photo by Supermachine Studio

The project is part of the celebration of Siam Cement Group (SCG), the biggest construction materials producer in Thailand, for the company’s 100 year anniversary.  Supermachine Studio and other two famous Thai architects, have been asked to design three public facilities:a playground, a library and a multipurpose pavilion, in a public park near a coastal town 100 km from Bangkok.
Supermachine Studio is questioning the way people will live in the next future, reinterpreting the role of “a playground” by define it as a meeting place among adults and kids rather than just playing facility seen in traditional play ports. Fun is created by just running up-down the concrete structure. Hiding and seeking in the Labyrinth enable people to meet physically rather than virtually on computer or smart phone screens. To complete the loop one will have to spend 10 kilo calories, the Labyrinth is an architecture for active movements as well as a social enhancing device, a meeting place. Calorie tower is a structure for a future society where architecture is not built based on the most efficient and quickest-access philosophy but on a detour and more possibility basis. It is a tower for those in the community to come in, meet and spend time together more actively.