Special Report: Here’s uproar over the concept for a new terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport – and how it was picked

By Phatarawadee Phataranawik 
The Nation Weekend

 

Renowned architect Duangrit Bunnag’s winning “forest” design for Suvarnabhumi Airport’s new Bt35-billion terminal has spurred controversy amid claims it plagiarises a Japanese design. Photo Courtesy of DBALP

 

Renowned architect Duangrit Bunnag’s winning “forest” design for Suvarnabhumi Airport’s new Bt35-billion passenger terminal has spurred a copycat controversy on social media as well as scepticism about the transparency of the design contest organised by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT).

 

The uproar arose after the original winner – SPAN Consultants and Sign-Tech Engineering Consultant Co, entering as “the SA Group” – was disqualified for failing to return the official AoT quotation form bearing its cost estimate. 

 

The runner-up, Duangrit’s DBALP Consortium, was declared the winner last week amid claims that it had plagiarised the concept of Kengo Kuma’s Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum in southern Japan. 

 

The design contract is worth around Bt329 million.

 

The DBALP design had the assistance of several other agencies, including Japan’s Nikken Sekkei, EMS Consultants, MHPM, MSE and ARJ Consortium.

 

Four architecture firms vied to design Terminal 2 (T2), which is part of the Bangkok airport’s third development phase. The others in the running were Varda Associates Co Ltd and the Beaumont Partnership.

 

If the DBALP proposal goes forward, construction of the 348,000-square-metre T2 is scheduled for completion in 30 months and the terminal should be fully operational in 2021 or early 2022. It’s intended to accommodate more than 30 million passengers annually.

 

But the project could be delayed because the SA Group has asked the government and Administrative Court to consider the plagiarism claim. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed AoT to review the contest and make sure everything was above board.

 

Prayut said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the AoT must ensure there were no legal impediments that would delay construction of T2.

 

“The contest was conducted transparently,” AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn insisted in an official statement the same day, adding that the SA Group was disqualified only for lack of the quotation form, an oversight to which he said the bidder admitted. 

 

However, the group has claimed it received no such form from AoT.

 

“The original quotation for design cost was an important document in the bidding process and our procurement staff had prepared and numbered them accordingly,” Nitinai said.

 

He added that the list of documents contained in envelopes given to the bidders was also made clear to them. “There was no complaint from any bidder about not receiving all the documents,” he said.

 

AoT has yet to sign a contract with Duangrit and his team, pending the review and consultation with experts and the public.  

 

The Architects Council of Thailand affirmed on Friday that the design contest had met its regulations for single-step bidding. The contest, though, took place before the new Government Procurement and Supplies Management Act was passed, by which such bidding competitions are required to enter two rounds, covering conceptual design and construction design.

 

“The rushed competition limited the number of firms that could enter the competition,” said Air Vice Marshal ML Prakitti Kshemasanta, who was among architect-observers of the AoT contest.

 

“AoT should have appointed a project-management consulting panel that included professional architects to study this mega-project before opening the contest,” added ML Prakitti, who is also the Architects Council secretary general.

 

Duangrit’s design is indeed similar to that of the iconic Japanese museum, but the Architects Council has not been prodded to take action on ethical grounds.

 

“We can’t say that he’s copied anything because we would first need to see all the relevant documents,” said Channarong Khanthong, the council’s second vice president.

 

“The investigation process would take time, but if we found him guilty of plagiarism, his proposal could not be used for the terminal.”

 

“I didn’t copy anyone else’s work,” Duangrit insisted. He said he spent over two months on the concept, drawing inspiration not from Kuma’s museum but from Thailand’s tropical forests.

 

Passengers would be greeted at the terminal by a lush landscape and huge waterfall, under a roof of modular components supported by overlapping wooden columns.

 

It’s this last facet of the design that’s drawn comparisons to the Wooden Bridge Museum.

 

Duangrit pointed out that modular structure is a signature element in his work and can be seen at the Naga Phuket Resort and a hotel in Sri Lanka, both of which he designed.

 

The SA Group design is quite different – modern, charming and harmonious with a shape mimicking a lotus bud.

 

Critics have commented that Duangrit’s complicated design would make the terminal far more difficult to maintain than the SA Group concept. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30353460

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-8-31

IMHO: Looks great: cosy and nevertheless representativ!
But

8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Critics have commented that Duangrit’s complicated design would make the terminal far more difficult to maintain

I have to admit: Almost impossible to clean in a thorough manner.

Why not have the new terminal match the other building? 

22 minutes ago, rebo said:

I have to admit: Almost impossible to clean in a thorough manner.

Like anything else in Thailand at the top end of town these decisions are based on size and weight of the envelope. No point in anyone getting over excited.

Yes rebo waterfalls and ponds with cigarette butts floating around are difficult to clean. Ponds anywhere are magnetic ashtrays for the Chinese.

Edited August 31, 20187 yr by Cadbury

8 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Waterfalls and ponds with cigarette butts floating around are difficult to clean. Ponds anywhere are like ashtrays for the Chinese.

You're not allowed to smoke in an airport

Just now, janclaes47 said:

You're not allowed to smoke in an airport

Thank you Mr. Goody Two Shoes. Go tell that to the Chinese.

Follow the nepotistic-based money....? 

 

Or, was the initial inquiry rhetorical in nature? 

 

 

Mai phen rai.

5 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Thank you Mr. Goody Two Shoes. Go tell that to the Chinese.

So you are claiming that the Chinese smoke in Suvurnabhumi airport?

 

I think you're just making things up.

I was doing very well reading this until the contest was conducted transparently bit then I drifted off?

54 minutes ago, toenail said:

Why not have the new terminal match the other building? 

Why?  I think it's much more interesting to have them different.  I don't mind Suvarnabhumi at all but I think this design is much more interesting to look at and has a lot more character than the bare concrete look of the existing terminal.  Feels more Thai too, even if it is Japanese.  ?

 

And who cares if it was "inspired" elsewhere?  How much architectural design is truly original these days anyway?

Looks like a Mosque to me, not that I have a problem with that. And even if I did, I would be too busy being shunted from pillar to post to care. Modern air travel is crap and a race to the bottom for the majority of us...

4 hours ago, toenail said:

Why not have the new terminal match the other building? 

You no undastaaan...Thailand is in the league with Tokyo and Singapore to build the best airport of the world, they can't design anything themselves though so they made a Japanese design which is always good.

 

If they were a bit more modern they would copy the idea of real tree's indoors from Changi...hundreds of real tree's above the sofa's where travellers are waiting to board...it's fantastic!

...wad  forgot to pay somchai?

I see a huge pigeon nesting site.

 

Don't forget your umbrella!

 

Most airports seem to plagiarise the design of public toilets, so at least this looks a bit different.

All will become clear - Pinocchio's on the job. 

This looks great, really beautiful. I hope it will get a "go" as much as i hope that all the wood will be fireproofed... ?

 

 

That said, this Kengo Kuma Japanese architect that the new airport design was supposed to took his inspiration from is really a good architect too. The first pictures below are the Wooden Bridge museum in Japan. Love what he did with bamboos too, see below.

 

So if the wooden bridge design goes ahead, there is where all of Thailand's remaining rosewood and teak forest timber will be ending up, cut for an officially sanctioned infrastructure project.  Great laundering scheme clearly appeals to certain influential people in this country, and not unlike what has happened across the border in Cambodia where illegally cut timber magically becomes legal when it is passed onto the company that has a "license" to supply.

Biggest game of Jenga I have ever seen.

Couldn't give a rats a--e what it looks like. Will it be efficient?

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Passengers would be greeted at the terminal by a lush landscape and huge waterfall, under a roof of modular components supported by overlapping wooden columns.

 

It’s this last facet of the design that’s drawn comparisons to the Wooden Bridge Museum.

 

Duangrit pointed out that modular structure is a signature element in his work and can be seen at the Naga Phuket Resort and a hotel in Sri Lanka, both of which he designed.

So, a serial plagiarist then. 

 

(Sarcasm alert)

Edited September 1, 20187 yr by Bluespunk

I would love to see that built, it would be a really iconic building.

Here is the full set of digital renderings for the new terminal. It almost look like a wood cathedral.

 

That said, for sure it's not gonna be easy for cleaning and maintenance...

 

 

Edited September 1, 20187 yr by bagheera65

8 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

So, a serial plagiarist then. 

 

(Sarcasm alert)

He said he was inspired  us the Thai tropical forests so I wouldn’t be surprised if they now accuse him of plagiarizing the forests.

 

from what I can see it’s laying sticks of varying lengths over each other to form a pattern. He nor the Japanese guy arent the first guys or the last guys to employ that method to create an architectural feature and while the patterns may look similar they are different.

 

Regardless of the controversy I would love to see it built. In fact the controversy would probably make it even more interesting. 

 

 

Just now, AJBangkok said:

He said he was inspired  us the Thai tropical forests so I wouldn’t be surprised if they now accuse him of plagiarizing the forests.

 

from what I can see it’s laying sticks of varying lengths over each other to form a pattern. He nor the Japanese guy arent the first guys or the last guys to employ that method to create an architectural feature and while the patterns may look similar they are different.

 

Regardless of the controversy I would love to see it built. In fact the controversy would probably make it even more interesting. 

 

 

He said...yes he said. 

 

But he would say that, wouldn’t he...

There is more pics! 

 

Also: "Dubbed ‘The Forest Terminal’ the new building has been carefully designed to reflect Thailand’s lush tropical forests, while using Duangrit Bunnag’s familiar modular design language. It doesn’t stop there though, between the terminal’s two main buildings, the team have designed a tropical garden featuring a cascading waterfall."

 

 

If they intend to use real wood, where they gonna find enough wood that legally can be cut to build it?

 

This building involves more than just a few trees.

The whole world over plagiarism is rife. Almost everything gets inspiration from other things. This is of course especially true in Asia where nothing is original. The most important thing is that’s it is functional and not based on poor c

Here are the pictures of the OTHERS proposed designs for the new terminal, those who didn't won. And i don't want to be disagreeable but in my opinion, at least esthetically speaking, the choice is done quickly between the one chosen and these three.

 

The first one below is the design from the company who complain, SA Group’s lotus-inspired design which was disqualified "for failure to return the official AoT quotation form bearing its cost estimate".