House for Trees
Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away from 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. Status: 04.2014 Program: Private House Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam GFA: 474.32 m2 Client: Individual Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki Design credit: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects) Principal Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima
Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away from 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. Status: 04.2014 Program: Private House Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam GFA: 474.32 m2 Client: Individual Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki Design credit: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects) Principal Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima
Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away from 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. Status: 04.2014 Program: Private House Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam GFA: 474.32 m2 Client: Individual Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki Design credit: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects) Principal Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima
Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away from 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. Status: 04.2014 Program: Private House Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam GFA: 474.32 m2 Client: Individual Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki Design credit: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects) Principal Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima
Description
007.
Under rapid urbanization, cities in Vietnam have diverged far away from 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.
Status: 04.2014
Program: Private House
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
GFA: 474.32 m2
Client: Individual
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC
Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki
Design credit: Vo Trong Nghia Architects (VTN Architects)
Principal Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima