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The Robot Building, located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank's Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking; its architecture is a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture. The building's features, such as progressively receding walls, antennas, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance and to its practical function. Completed in 1986, the building is one of the last examples of modern architecture in Bangkok. ==Design== Thai architect Sumet Jumsai designed the Robot Building for the Bank of Asia, which was acquired by United Overseas Bank in 2005.〔〔Williams, Nick B. "Third World Review: High rise battle of Bangkok - The 20-storey robot that is the focus of architectural acrimony." ''The Guardian'' (May 22, 1987).〕 He had been asked by the Bank of Asia's directors to design a building that reflected the modernization and computerization of banking〔〔"Buildings that put a sparkle in Thai skyline." ''The Straits Times'' (April 4, 1997).〕 and found inspiration in his son's toy robot.〔Algie, Jim. ("Building A Name in Paris: The French capital plays host to an exhibition by Thailand's Renaissance Man." ) ''Asia Week'' (December 17, 1999).〕 Sumet designed the building in conscious opposition to postmodern styles of the era, particularly classical revivalism and high-tech architecture as embodied in the Centre Pompidou.〔Sumet, p. 79–80.〕 While Sumet praised the inception of postmodernism as a protest against puritanical, bland modern design, he called it "a protest movement which seeks to replace without offering a replacement".〔Sumet, p. 79〕 Sumet dismissed mid-1980s classical revivalism as "intellectual() bankrupt...handmade artifacts and honest manual labor", as a movement without a future.〔Sumet, p. 80.〕 Sumet wrote that his building "need not be a robot" and that a "host of other metamorphoses" would suffice, so long as they could "free the spirit from the present intellectual impasse and propel it forward into the next century".〔 He wrote that his design might be considered post-high-tech: rather than exhibiting the building's inner workings, he chose to adorn a finished product with the abstractions of mechanical parts.〔Sumet, p. 77.〕 His building, he argued, struck against the 20th century vision of the machine as a "separate entity" often "elevated on a pedestal for worship" and, by becoming "a part of our daily lives, a friend, ourselves", cleared the way for the 21st century amalgam of machine and man.〔 The building was completed in 1987 at a cost of US$10 million.〔〔Kusno, (p. 197 ).〕 By the mid-1980s, architectural modernism had faded in Bangkok; this building is one of the last examples of the style.〔Williams & Cummings, (p. 28 ).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robot Building」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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