solidsprout reimagines bangkok's shopping malls as mountains of greenery

with their latest conceptual project, solidsprout has reimagined the landscape of bangkok, thailand. the idea is to attempt to visualize how the city might look if shopping malls were replaced with green spaces. the design aims to raise people’s awareness about the development of greenery in the urban context. in the concept images, mountains of recreational areas are recreated and placed around the iconic buildings and at the exact spots where the existing department stores are located.

the current landscape vs the re-imagined bangkok, all images © solidsprout 

bangkok is a dream destination for travellers and shoppers. currently there is a total of 127 department stores but only 36 parks, and the number is on the rise. there are five new malls in the last five years (2014-2018) and one new mall in 2018. the average green area is only 3.5 – 6.2 sq.m. per capita, below the regulation from the world health organisation (WHO) which sets the standard at 9 sq.m. for all big cities. while the social movements that demand the expansion of urban parks are hardly recognized by the state, solidsprout‘s project seeks to inquire how bangkok could balance economic growth with the development of green spaces, in order to provide the city with the much needed breathing space in a dense urban environment.

the recreational mountains are placed around iconic buildings and at the exact spots where the department stores are located

the mountains serve as city parks, nature observatory walking trails, and learning centers

the view from the street

the re-imagined bangkok

the locations where department stores are aggregated in bangkok, map by google

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom