This tower in Bangkok looks like a Minecraft mod

No, this isn't a Minecraft mod. It's a skyscraper nearing completion in Bangkok, Thailand. At this point, it also happens to be the tallest structure in the city. The skyscraper features shifted box elements that break up its surface, making pixelated balconies and terraces. The 77-story building has hundred of apartments, a hotel, bars, and restaurants.

From the architects: "The design moves beyond the traditional formula for a seamless, inert, glossy totem, and instead actively engages the city: MahaNakhon Tower's pixelated and carved presence embraces and connects to the surrounding urban fabric rather than overpowering it. It's glittering stacked surfaces, terraces, and protrusions will simultaneously create the impression of digital pixelation and echo the irregularity of ancient mountain topography."

I love seeing the influences the 8- and 16- bit generation—and especially the blocky 3D grids of Minecraft—have on the real world. Because without video games, pixelated anything would not be a design choice, let alone an incredible-looking aesthetic result on its own. 

[Via Weburbanist]