An image shows a building which looks like a fingerprint when viewed from above. Is this building real or fake?

The image is not real.

It was digitally created by the advertising agency SpicyH for IT WORKS Fingerprint Security Systems in Bangkok, Thailand several years ago (some sources say 2006, others cite 2010).

Architect Weekly also pointed out that the building is not real. It described the futuristic building in early 2013 as follows:

We just had to share this ‘building’ with you. But, before you get too excited about the futuristic design then stand by since it isn’t actually real! It was actually part of a marketing campaign for a company that makes fingerprint software and panels, but it would be pretty cool if it was!

The specs on the advertisement are listed as follows:

Advertising Agency: SpicyH, Bangkok, Thailand
Production company: MasterScene
Executive Creative Director: Woon Hoh Siew
Creative Director: Gaek Bee Lee
Art Directors: Apiwat Pattalarungkhan, Adam Pamungkas
Copywriter: Irvine Prisilia
Photographer: Clarissa Peddy Photography
Retoucher: OIC!

The photo has been passed off as a real structure by some “fact” pages and other “amazing photos” social media accounts, often with the logo conveniently cropped out. For those still not convinced, a closeup of a portion of the image yields the cartoonish pedestrians in the photo:

More Fingerprint Building Photos

Two lesser-shared images were also created as part of the advertising campaign. These, however, have not been shared on social media with the frequency of the advertisement above.

Conclusion

The “Fingerprint Building” does not exist in Thailand or anywhere else. The images were created by an ad agency for a company which makes fingerprint software.

Updated May 16, 2016
Originally published February 2014