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A perforated brick facade wraps Tropical Space’s new Ho Chi Minh City office building

2023-06-13T11:42:00-04:00

Vietnam-based architecture practice Tropical Space has completed an office building in Ho Chi Minh City featuring perforated brick walls. Named Premier Office, the scheme was developed with attention to maximizing natural light throughout the rental office spaces without exposing the interior to intense direct sunlight.

Photo credit: Trieu Chien

The building is anchored by a central void rising to the full height of the interior, allowing natural light and airflow across the property. On one side of the central void are the office spaces, where two facades can open to capture sunlight and ventilation. The other side of the void accommodates restrooms, storage, and circulation spaces. “By connecting the void between the corridors and empty spaces, both vertically and horizontally, the building can create moving light areas and space displacement during the day,” the design team explains.

Photo credit: Trieu Chien

While supported by a co...

Foster + Partners chosen to design 'The Global City' master plan in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

2022-03-07T16:44:00-05:00

Foster + Partners has been appointed as the Architectural Advisors for a new mixed-use master plan in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The firm was selected by Masterise Homes, the developer behind what will be The Global City.

As stated in Foster + Partners’ announcement: “The Global City will be a diverse and sophisticated neighborhood, integrating a full range of facilities for a future downtown city alongside residential units.” The development will span 1,174 hectares (2,900 acres) and include a mix of high- and low-rise apartments, villas, social housing, medical and administrative facilities, a 125,000-square-meter (1.35-million-square-foot) shopping mall, and other amenities. It also boasts easy access to highways, major roads, and metro lines, according to the scheme's description.

A central green spine and two adjacent waterways will run from the northern to the southern ends of the site. The master plan is divided into five neighborhoods, each with their own distinctive charac...

Ultra-narrow urban Vietnamese home connects three generations of family

2020-10-07T13:07:00-04:00

Set in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, the CH House, designed by ODDO Architects, brings together three generations of family to create an interconnected space of community and residence. The narrow home is inspired by the traditional homes of Hanoi with large openings to the exterior and interior courtyards for ample natural light and ventilation.

The home is split into two zones: the communal spaces and the private spaces. The living room, library, dining room, and kitchen are positioned on different levels to emphasize connectivity amongst the family. Above the common area are the children's rooms and closer to the center of the home are the grandparents' bedroom and the parents' room.

Plant life is embraced throughout, to create a sense of calm and connectedness to nature. Moreover, the double-layered facade combines perforated concrete blocks and a steel frame accompanied by a layer of greenery to provide both shading and natural ventilation through the space.

The result is...

Giant weathered hands lift this new golden pedestrian bridge in Vietnam

2018-08-08T14:56:00-04:00

Cau Vang or the “Golden Bridge” in Vietnam’s Ba Na Hills has attracted scores of tourists since it opened in June [...] The pedestrian walkway, designed by TA Landscape Architecture in Ho Chi Minh City, sits at over 3,280 feet above sea level and extends over the treetops from the edge of a leafy cliff face. The bridge was designed to evoke the image of the “giant hands of Gods, pulling a strip of gold out of the land,” said Vu Viet Anh, Design Principal at TA Landscape Architecture.

The S House prefab system hopes to bring super-low-cost housing to Vietnam — and the rest of the world

2017-07-05T14:55:00-04:00

Known as “S Houses,” these prefab structures going up here in Ba Vi, about 30 miles from Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, are iterations of a prototype that Mr. Nghia has been honing since about 2013. [...] But Mr. Nghia says that his plan is to mass-manufacture this portable, easy-to-assemble design for people in slums, remote areas or refugee camps around the world, beginning later this year, all for the starting price — $1,500 — of about two iPhones.

The NYT takes a closer look at the extremely affordable S House prefab system currently going up by the dozens in Vietnam, with a keen eye on the global super-low-cost market. Designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a design studio with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, S House was exhibited with a full-scale prototype at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

S HOUSE at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Photo: Steve Hall, Tom Harris, copyright: Hedrich Blessing, image via the architects' website.

If the firm name sounds strangely familiar, Vo Trong Nghia Architects won the 2014 World Architecture Festival 'House' category with the spectacular House for Trees project. VTN partner Masaaki Iwamoto is also a 2014 Wheelwright Prize finalist.

Ho Chi Minh City′s historic architecture is quickly disappearing

2017-06-12T17:38:00-04:00

Others are concerned the demolition of its famed French architectural gems will render Ho Chi Minh City indistinguishable from other Asian megacities. "In the 1960s and 1970s it was very much French, but now it's very Americanized, McDonald's on every corner," said Hiep Nguyen, born in Ho City Minh City and author of several books on its architectural history. "A streetscape without a story has no value," he added.

"City officials are now writing a nine-point plan to classify buildings and mark some for protection," DW writes, "but admit such a huge task could take years to be implemented."

Vietnam's architectural past is being erased by new economic forces

2017-03-09T12:42:00-05:00

What's the value of history? It's a question that keeps coming up around the world as new projects displace older architecture. In Vietnam, many of Ho Chi Minh City's distinctive (and, in many cases, French-colonial-era) structures are being dispatched to memory in favor of newer developments meant to stimulate the economy. As this article in USA Today notes:

Preservationists say developers and government officials are intent on making this city modern and care little for the vestiges of its colonial past. But destroying so many historic buildings, they warn, makes the city less livable and less attractive to tourists — which could undercut economic growth the government hopes to foster.

As Ho Chi Minh City develops rapidly, historic colonial architecture comes under threat

2016-02-26T14:22:00-05:00

“What I realized is that they have very little power,” Mr. Viet, 28, said of his fellow urban planners. “The fates of the buildings were being decided by someone else.” [...] when Ho Chi Minh City’s property market perked up after a slump that followed the 2008 financial crisis, dozens of prewar buildings — spanning the colonial to modernist eras — were razed to make room for new ones. As the city’s modest skyline grows, residents are watching with a mixture of awe and trepidation.

Hanoi's alleys struggle to accommodate their new neighbors: high-rise developments

2015-06-24T16:17:00-04:00

High-rise buildings and apartments are crowding small alleyways and residential areas, investors ignoring the huge pressure they are putting on already weak infrastructure. [...] Hai, a resident of Thanh Xuan District, said locals are most worried about the danger of fire [...] High-rise developments also put a huge strain on local power and water supplies, struggling sewage systems and storm-water drainage, creating more hazards for neighbouring residents.

a21studio, 5468796, Cook Robotham and others win big at this year's World Architecture Festival

2014-10-03T13:47:00-04:00

The World Architecture Festival 2014 at the Marina Bay Sands closed on a festive note with the final top-prize winners being announced during a gala dinner and awards ceremony on October 3...The WAF "super jury" awarded the overall winning World Building of the Year award to The Chapel in Vietnam designed by Vietnamese architecture firm a21studio. Three projects in Victoria, Canada, Australia, and China also won major top awards, and two Inaugural Prizes were given.

World Building of the Year: The Chapel, Vietnam, designed by a21studio

Future Project of the Year: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada, designed by 5468796 Architecture + number TEN architectural group

Landscape Project of the Year: National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer

Small Project of the Year: The Pinch, China, designed by Olivier Ottevaere and John Lin, The University of Hong Kong

INAUGURAL PRIZE WINNERS
Colour Prize: Departments of Law and Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, designed by Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau

Wood Excellence Prize: Alex Monroe Studio, Snowfields, UK, designed by DSDHA

Learn more about each project on Bustler.

Hanoi: is it possible to grow a city without slums?

2014-08-11T13:28:00-04:00

Hanoi has faced the same population pressures as other Asian cities. But thanks to vague and informal conventions, the state has been able to avoid extreme levels of disservice, even to the most impoverished new urban areas. And the construction of homes themselves has remained at least loosely connected to the regulations of the more formal suburbs. Together these factors have prevented the formation of slums as they are typically defined. But how has this come about?

“Vu’òn - The Garden” by Bureau A for Duc Nguyen Qui’s Tadioto in Hanoi, Vietnam

2013-10-18T20:27:00-04:00

"Vu'òn - The Garden" by Swiss firm Bureau A is a temporary installation for the Tadioto, a gallery/bar/cafe/event space that Duc Nguyen Qui — a Vietnamese American journalist, writer, and artist — created for the blossoming creative community in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Tadioto is located in a section of a former penicillin factory from the Soviet era.

SOM Designs Eco-Urban Community in Danang, Vietnam

2011-06-01T14:17:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has recently been awarded the Master Plan commission for Golden Hills, an Eco-Urban Community in Danang, Vietnam. SOM’s preliminary plan for a sustainable residential community at the edge of the city looks to set a new benchmark for ecologically-sensitive development in Vietnam. SOM is now working closely with the city planning authorities to finalize the project’s design and ensure its delivery.