Like an infographic that transforms public space, with a colour gradient depicting how plastic waste is disposed of in the country, the project by MVRDV for Bangkok Design Week puts the spotlight on everyday objects while reproducing the shape of a carpet whose raised corner, with a curved shape, replicates the shape of the roofs of Wat Suthat Thepwararam, offering a protected space to take refuge and observe an exhibition on the history of waste.
The installation serves as an outdoor living room, a space to sit and enjoy the square, but also as an urban commitment to environmental awareness and as a paradigm towards a more responsible future, creating a soft space in a city dominated by concrete, in which the possibilities created by emphasizing the careful use of recycled materials are highlighted.
"Mega Mat" ephemeral installation by MVRDV. Photograph by Depth of Field Co.,Ltd.
Project description by MVRDV
Public space as infographic: MVRDV’s “Mega Mat” installation at Bangkok Design Week tells a story of plastic waste and recycling.
MVRDV has completed a temporary installation at the heart of Bangkok Design Week, creating a public space that also tells a story of plastic waste and recycling in Thailand. Located on the Lan Khon Mueang Town Square outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority City Hall, the Mega Mat is a modular piece made of over 500 recycled plastic mats, showcasing the possibilities for using recycled plastic in everyday objects. Its bright colours add a burst of energy to the design week and connect the Mega Mat to its surroundings – and also form an 860-square-metre infographic about Thailand’s plastic waste processing.
Thailand produces around 2 million tonnes of plastic waste a year; the issue has become a hot topic nationwide as industries and the government have introduced policies and frameworks to reduce the consumption of plastic and increase the percentage of waste that is recycled. To build on this national momentum, with their contribution to Bangkok Design Week MVRDV wanted to celebrate the versatility of recycled plastic as a material for everyday products.
The Mega Mat takes recycled plastic as the material for a ubiquitous household item, the “Sua”, or mat, on which Thai families have been sitting for generations. A total of 532 modular pieces, woven with a traditional Thai textile pattern, come together to make a supersized Sua for the whole city. With each module measuring 1.8 by 0.9 metres, after Bangkok Design Week the Mega Mat will be dismantled and the individual mats will go on to live a third life – some will be donated to local temples, others will become yoga mats, and others will be upcycled into products such as bags.
The bright colours of this Mega Mat form a gradient that serves as an infographic display of how plastic waste is currently disposed of in the country: red signifies the percentage of waste that is sent to unsanitary landfills; shades of orange represent the percentage that goes to sanitary landfills, with barriers in place that prevent ground pollution; yellow represents the percentage of waste that goes uncollected; while finally, the shades of green at the centre represent the percentage of plastic that is recycled. The colours, with their concentric arrangement, also reference the colourful roofs of the Wat Suthat Thepwararam, a temple located behind the plaza.
“Around the world, people are understanding the need to think more about the objects they use, and to see products as part of a connected ecological web. In Thailand this conversation is already well underway. I encourage that. With our design of the Mega Mat, we also wanted to celebrate it as an opportunity, to see the possibilities that are created by putting an emphasis on recycled materials. In a city dominated by concrete, this mat creates a soft space where you can take off your shoes, sit, lie down, read, and play.”
Winy Maas, architect and MVRDV founder.
On one corner, the Mega Mat is lifted, with the upwards-curving shape again reminiscent of the roofs of the Wat Suthat Thepwararam. This sheltered corner provides a space to share information, where visitors can find an exhibition about the story of plastic waste and recycling in Thailand and the meaning woven into the recycled plastic of the Mega Mat, while the rest of the installation allows people to sit on and enjoy the Lan Khon Mueang plaza as their outdoor living room.
MVRDV’s engagement with recycling in Bangkok Design Week is part of the practice’s broader efforts in sustainability, as it aims to transition its portfolio to a low-carbon, “Paris-proof” paradigm. The firm recently opened the Carbon Confessions exhibition in Munich that tells the story of their quest for carbon reductions on multiple levels, from developing the CarbonScape software to optimise the emissions of their projects to creating The Green Dream Foundation to offset the travel emissions created in the course of their work.
The Mega Mat was created in collaboration with the Creative Economy Agency, PTT Global Chemicals, and the Embassy of the Netherlands. The installation is one of a number of MVRDV actions at Bangkok Design Week: on February 13th–15th, in collaboration with We!Park the firm exhibited PROMPT PARK, a participatory AI project to reimagine a leftover space under the Sirat Expressway at Surawong Road. On February 15th, MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas presented the lecture “People, Places, and Architecture” in the Central Convention Hall at Silpakorn University, a recording of which will soon be made available.
