“One Bangkok” is a comprehensive real estate project with the highest quality standards, announcing the names of the 10 winning teams of the One Bangkok Urban Furniture Competition 2022 “Seatscape & Beyond”, aimed at creating public seating for urban living. The 10 winning teams received cash prizes from Lim Hua Tieng, Chief Executive Officer of One Bangkok, along with a visit to “The Prelude One Bangkok” to study the project's design and details, as well as the placement of public seating pieces from each team. They are now preparing to enter the workshop phase to develop their designs, production, and installation in the actual project site.

The One Bangkok Urban Furniture Competition 2022, under the design theme “Seatscape & Beyond,” was born from a collaboration between One Bangkok and THINKK Studio, a design studio of emerging designers from various fields, supported by the eisa (Education Institute Support Activity) project by Thai Beverage Public Company Limited and Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited. The competition invited students and young people to create public seating for urban living (Urban Furniture). The works of the 10 finalist teams will receive support for production costs, installation, and practical use in the One Bangkok project, along with a total cash prize of over 500,000 baht, and participation in workshops with leading professional designers in Thailand, fostering pride in being part of this grand global project.

Worawat Srisan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of One Bangkok, stated, “We are extremely pleased that this competition has garnered overwhelming interest from young students, with a total of 247 submissions from 23 educational institutions across the country. This is a success stemming from One Bangkok's commitment to supporting the creativity of the younger generation. The 10 winning teams will be part of creating public spaces within One Bangkok to provide a special experience for users, which will be a crucial element in achieving our vision of establishing a leading business district as a global destination for all lifestyles, while also promoting One Bangkok's role as a supporter of the arts, culture, and creativity in Thailand.”

Surapol Utintu, Director of External Coordination at Thai Beverage Public Company Limited and Director of eisa (Education Institute Support Activity), a project supporting the development of higher education youth, who oversaw the submission of works for the competition, said, “We received excellent feedback from the promotion of the project and the submission of works from faculty and students of various educational institutions and universities, with a total of 247 submissions from diverse design fields. This is because the project can set challenges that lead to real development and use in real spaces, providing participants with opportunities to learn and develop from renowned design experts, making it a highly valuable experience. eisa and the higher education institutions in the network hope to have similar projects in the future, which will benefit students by providing lessons outside the classroom and full support from capable agencies and businesses. Meanwhile, the One Bangkok project, as the initiator, has gained fresh and unique ideas from young designers.”

Wannaporn Phornprapha, Managing Director of P Landscape Co., Ltd., one of the esteemed judges of the competition, added, “The One Bangkok project is a world-class mixed-use project that encompasses all elements, including offices, hotels, residences, retail spaces, convention halls, and more. The design of the public spaces in the project focuses on flexibility to respond to the diverse lifestyles and activities of people, including creating green spaces to enhance the quality of life for those within the project. It should accommodate various uses, whether for resting, as part of an art installation, to enhance the landscape, or as play equipment to reduce stress and stimulate users' imagination. As a judge, seeing the excellent works submitted, I was impressed that the students conducted research and understood user behaviors according to the given challenges, working as a team to merge creative ideas to meet the objectives, resulting in lively and engaging pieces that demonstrate potential for developing into professional designers.”

Nattanon Jamlongrat and Koki Yoshimoto from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, members of the SE[AT]QUECE team, stated, “Our team chose to design public seating to enhance comfort for those waiting to travel to another location. We are very proud to have won the competition and are ready to receive coaching from experienced mentors, leading to actual production and installation in the One Bangkok project, which we see as a new mega project that will create new lifestyles for people in Bangkok. Being part of this project is a source of pride that can help build a strong profile and lead to future work opportunities.”

The 10 winning teams will have the opportunity to participate in a Design Development Workshop led by Decha Arjunanand and Ploypan Teerachai, two founding designers of THINKK Studio, a leading design firm in Thailand, with a total of 10 sessions from August to December 2022. This workshop will provide knowledge and consultation for developing and improving designs until they are ready for practical use, aligning with the intended use in the designated environment. Additionally, guidance on data collection methods for development and presentation of works will be provided, with instructors from THINKK Studio and guest experts in structure, installation, and presentation also participating in the training. After the workshop and design development phase, the works of the 10 winning teams will begin the actual production process in early 2023. Subsequently, the scaled prototypes will be showcased at the Bangkok Design Week 2023 (BKKDW2023) and will enter the judging process for three special awards in February 2023. All 10 pieces will be installed and displayed in the public areas of the One Bangkok project by the end of 2023.

For more details, follow at www.onebangkok.com/urbanfurniture and other communication channels of the project.