Sathorn Sign made with 1,000 CDs

Project Title: Unwasted Memories

Condition: Built

Date: 06/2020

/ The "Sathorn Sign" is an annual installation located at the Bhiraj Tower near Surasak BTS station in Bangkok. The low-rise office campus is part of the real estate development by the Bhiraj Bhuri group. This project, in particular, breaks free from the typical cookie-cutter approach to high-rise buildings in heavily congested areas.

The property had been converted from an old warehouse complex to modern office space, keeping much of the existing structure and preserving green areas.

The design reflects "Freedom to think" and emphasizes the ideas of how we can refocus the old and obsolete into something fresh, suggesting a change in attitudes toward a friendly corporate culture, one that facilitates interaction and embraces a sense of community. /

/ Compact disc or CD was a popular data storage medium. It was considered as a safe and permanent place to store data and memories. However, in modern-day, most of them were replaced by the convenience of alternatives such as cloud storage.

CDs have become relics of the past that people rarely use. Many old CDs and DVDs left in the office had been gathered, then categorized into groups with their reflective color grading. As a result, we decided to use this once-valuable object, still appealing to its physical properties as the main source materials for the installation.

With the facade of Bhiraj Tower at Sathorn as a reference, we created a parametric design pattern from discs repetition. The vibrant reflective hologram color of the material has allowed us to play with lights and shadow by hanging them on a frame structure and connecting them at various rotational angles. /

/ The individual angle was determined by the pivoting point attached to the center of every disc, allowing them to rotate horizontally. Besides, the CDs were arranged in a serrated formation similar to the fish scale. The design helped fill the space more efficiently and assisted in avoiding overlaps as well as protection against the wind.

Design typology

Subsequently, the natural aesthetic of the installation changed depending on the point of inspection, tones of environment, time of day, residents' behavior, and material aging, flavoring the installation with rich colors. /

/ In the evening, the alphabets reacted accordingly by letting the light from behind the pillar shine through the hole of the CDs, reflecting off one another to reveal its concealed beauty to the residents who wandered past the campus.

Credits:

In collaboration with Conscious

Conscious is a visual communication design studio based in Bangkok. They treat design just like equations and riddles. Their methodology in solving them varies depending on your preferences and impressions. Only one aspect that differs between the two is that design has no definite solution. Join them to explore the endless possibility of design at https://www.facebook.com/conscious.co.th/