Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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.
— Reuters
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.
— New York Times
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... View full entry
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. — dw.com
"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." View full entry
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... View full entry
“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.
— nytimes.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Hanoi's alleys struggle to accommodate their new neighbors: high-rise developmentsAs Myanmar Modernizes, Architectural Gems Are EndangeredInside the famous Phnom Penh cinema that has become a living nightmare View full entry
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.
— vietnamnet.vn
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. — bustler.net
World Building of the Year: The Chapel, Vietnam, designed by a21studioFuture Project of the Year: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada, designed by 5468796 Architecture + number TEN architectural groupLandscape Project of the Year: National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, designed by Taylor... View full entry
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? — theguardian.com
"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. — bustler.net
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. — bustler.net
