The exhibition underscores how the capital’s growth has rocketed along in spite of all the political turmoil and other setbacks. The caption on the wall gasps at “a staggering 50,100 new condominium units” launched in 2014 and 35,000 more this year and last.
“I’ve lived in condos since I was very young, so there’s that familiarity,” Miti says, “but I left Bangkok to study abroad at a young age, and now I have a renewed interest in exploring the rapid, ever-changing pace of growth in the city.”
“It’s changing at a really hectic pace compared to London, where the city centre has remained pretty static. If you look at pictures of London in the ’60s and now, the architecture is much the same, other than shifts in taste and fashion. In Bangkok there’s a sense that anything could happen.”
For his “Rooms” portfolio, Miti actually approached a realtor pretending to be a potential buyer and was able to get more than 100 images of different suites. The condos he shot are all along the expanding Skytrain line and priced from Bt1 million to Bt80 million.
The pictures in the series appear at first glance to be of the same place, but closer examination reveals different details – as reflected in wildly divergent asking prices.
“What you see are newly built interiors awaiting occupation,” Miti says. “The questions that arise are about aspirations versus reality.”
“Excerpts from Bangkok Real Estate Advertising” are presented in the original English and tend to strain credulity while attempting to entice. “For visionary homeseekers”, says one. “Bangkok’s Ground Zero for a new way of living”, reads another. Yet another gushes that the building’s height (42 floors) is “the height of happiness”. Miti’s also compiled them all in an amusing book.