Bangkok set for 77-storey skyscraper

The MahaNakon looks set to become the tallest skyscraper in Bangkok.

A skyscraper 77 stories high could soon be on the must-see lists of people taking cheap flights to Bangkok.

The MahaNakon – or Great Metropolis – will become the city’s tallest building, taking over from the Baiyoke Tower.

It is expected to be completed by 2014 and reach 314 metres into the sky, housing a shopping centre, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and residential units.

Speaking to AFP about the structure’s peculiar pixelated spiral design, Sorapoj Techakraisri said: “I just wanted something unique, something interesting.”

Mr Techakraisri, head of Pace Development, pointed out that the construction of ever-taller buildings seems to follow the fortunes of the economy, so when it grows, the skyline does too.

The 19 billion baht skyscraper was designed by German architect Ole Scheeren and construction work began in June 2011.

It is being built on a 3.6 acre site in the city’s central business district and will feature a smaller building next to it called the Cube.

Written by Anthony Nicholson