Thailand’s leading “starchitect” pointed out something that should have been evident much earlier — that a proposed building meant to be part of the Chao Phraya riverfront redesign is pretty much an exact copy of a British design.
“Starchitect” Duangrit Bunnag, the man responsible for Emquartier, TCDC Chiang Mai, the X2 resorts and The Jam Factory, pointed out that the proposed design for the stupa-like Viman Phra In, a building that was meant to hold a museum as part of the riverfront revamp, was copied from free plans for the building available online, reported Khaosod English.
The original building is by architect Norman Foster.
Yesterday, Duangrit went public with his observation in hopes that Foster would learn about the copycat plans and take legal action against the design team tasked with the project. He even offered to help with the legal action.
The proposed riverfront building was “designed” by a team of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, who denied the allegation that it was a total copycat, Nation TV reported.
A representative of the institute told local media that the building was inspired by the traditional “Jom Hae Stupa,” a design from Sukothai era (mid-13th century to late 14th century).
The representative, who was not identified, said that the team did not download the model available online because those models aren’t usable for further development. The design was built single-handedly by the team.
Duangrit said that the use of free, online plans is common for the small details of a project, but not as a major design element or an entire building. From the start, the architect has been opposed to the riverfront project. He said that the THB120 million was paid to design the project was from taxpayer money, but that the major aspect of the design just came from a free download.
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