While soccer, or football as it is known in some parts of the world is traditionally played on a rectangular pitch, it can be hard to find those spaces in Bangkok. In particular, the crowded city centre is full of soccer fans wanting to have a kick about but who have no place to play.
As part of a recent project, AP took to the skies, using aerial photography to find unique spaces or unusually shaped patches of land that weren’t being used. The developer then covered them with concrete, paint and anti-slip materials marked them with lines that you would normally find on a football pitch but without the typical boundaries.
“Many people wonder if a football field that is not in a rectangular shape is really playable. But since we agreed that a football field is what people in the community wanted, we considered that size and shape should not be an obstacle for us to build the field. The problem was how to do it given the limitations, how to make it most practical,” Pattaraphurit Rungjaturapat, AP’s Deputy Chief Corporate Image Officer explained. “It was a challenge to our team of designers. The two football fields were not just a result of thinking differently, it was a balanced design that brings the most flexibility and seamlessness to the community.”
Locals have loved the new fields with Pattaraphurit noting that the pitches, which opened earlier this year, are full of kids as soon as school lets out with games going on throughout the evening. And it’s not just soccer players who enjoy the innovations. TIME magazine named AP’s unique fields as one of its 25 best inventions of 2016.
“The fact that TIME has selected AP Unusual Football Field as one of 25 best inventions of 2016 is beyond our wildest imagination. The positive response from local and international media has also been overwhelming,” Pattaraphurit concluded.
