“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”, says MVRDV founder Winy Maas. “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 drop your shoes, sit, lie down, read, and play.”

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 CarbonSpace 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 Economic 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.