PROJECT

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House for trees

Status:

04/2014

Program:

Private House

Location:

Tan Binh , Ho Chi Minh city

Site are:

474.32m2

GFA:

226m2

Principal Architect:

Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima

Design team:

Nguyen Tat Dat

Contractor:

Wind and Water Joint Stock Company

Client:

Individual

Photographers:

Hiroyuki Oki

Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away their origins as rampant tropical forests. In Ho Chi Minh City, as an example, only 0.25% area of the entire city is covered by greenery. Over-abundance of motorbikes causes daily traffic congestion as well as serious air pollution. As a result, new generations in urban areas are losing their connections with nature.

"House for Trees", a prototypical house within a tight budget of 155,000 USD, is an effort to change this situation. The aim of project is to return green space into the city, accommodating high-density dwelling with big tropical trees. Five concrete boxes, each houses a different program, are designed as "pots" to plant trees on their tops. With thick soil layer, these "pots" also function as storm-water basins for detention and retention, therefore contribute to reduce the risk of flooding in the city when the idea is multiplied to a large number of houses in the future.