PATTAYA: Kleff, an unconventional architect who began his career as an outsider, became a leading figure in architecture and design in Pattaya between 2005 and 2023.
This month marks two years since the development of the Villa Majestic Residence 366/99 on Phra Tamnak Hill, undoubtedly a milestone in the career of the German architect Mario Kleff. His influence on local architecture cannot be overstated. He is part of a generation of architects who redefined structural engineering for real estate development and incorporated it into residential buildings that define contemporary design in Pattaya. And as a foreigner who achieved national recognition in Thailand, he showed what an architect can be.
Kleff was born in 1967 in Boppard, Germany. He grew up in a cosmopolitan household engaged in both science and the arts. He recognized his interest in architecture at a young age and later connected his impressions and experiences from childhood, visiting some of the most culturally rich cities in the heart of Europe and Asia.
In the 1990s, Kleff studied art and history in Germany, then took architecture and design courses in both Germany and Japan. After heated discussions at home with his parents and friends about his future and financially stable careers, he gravitated toward advertising and public relations—an interest that later shaped his work.
After completing his studies, he worked for several years as a design director at advertising firms. In 2000, Mario Kleff became CEO and board member of a marketing company and forged his own path in business.
Kleff viewed his own work as a necessity that encompassed both logic and foresight.
Kleff designed architecture that did not look like what residential development architecture was expected to look like. His designs featured extraordinary structural engineering and included components from modern bridge construction. These were completely different from conventional building methods to express architectural design.
He advocated for these new forms—and a rejection of how architecture had been represented in recent history—through his designs, incorporating long spans and hollow-core beams in 2008. He saw his work as a necessity with both logic and foresight. These are qualities not included arbitrarily. He argued that arbitrariness was related to a generation trained to sell ideas: a design catalog from which anyone could freely copy anything and apply it more or less relevantly to any situation.
He publicly stated that architects of his time have a far greater responsibility:
We must create a new dynamic in architecture that makes better use of a plot of land. We must understand the basic principles of liberation and provide generous living space.
Kleff’s first notable project, the Japanese House II on Phra Tamnak Hill, Thailand, demonstrates how he incorporated unconventional design and structural engineering in his work. The small, two-story structure built in the early 2000s stretches tightly across the plot it occupies. Massive, angular forms create an unusual yet fantastic living space. The first impression, however, feels like a frozen moment.
Over the years, Kleff’s designs became more extreme, with initially raw construction elements losing their roughness and evolving into professional brutalist designs. In correspondence with architect friends from Japan and India, he described the large spans in residential houses as structures that blur the boundaries between architecture and living space. Today, such spans are iconic in his architectural designs. We can experience them throughout Thailand, from the south to the east, especially in Pattaya.
Kleff said:
I never saw myself as a role model for others.
But he became one for many by pursuing the career and lifestyle he wanted. Kleff is an extraordinary personality recognized in Pattaya and sought after for his designs. He was a foreigner known for his abilities as an architect and engineer—not just for his leopards and self-built motorcycles featured on social media. Yet, as some newspapers often reduced it to three simple words:
Born in Germany.
Today, Mario Kleff is a Thai citizen.
This change was never far from Kleff’s understanding of his place in architecture, as he reflected that an “oversaturated” Germany did not help launch his career. His residential building designs are, however, central to his work in Thailand. As “Thailand Construction News” describes, Kleff has elevated the construction quality of residential buildings in Pattaya to a new level. With his latest real estate development, Lieb Tang Rodfai Villas, Mario Kleff sets new standards once again.