In the city of Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon, and the largest city in Vietnam), you will notice many of the homes adorned with pots and planters. It’s a local custom and one that adds to the city’s visual identity. Architecture firm, Vo Trang Nghia, embraced this aesthetic as per the request of their clients, a couple in their 30s and their mother.
The property footprint is very typical of the tube houses in the city, a 4-meter (13.1 ft) wide by 20-meter (65.6 ft) deep plot. The front and back facades are composed entirely of layers of concrete planters, with a height varying between 25 cm (9.8 in) to 40 cm (15.7 in) depending on the height of the plant for each planter. The designers also installed automatic irrigation pipes inside the planters for easy water maintenance.
The house takes full advantage of the sunlight no matter what time of day. There’s even a rooftop garden and two giant sunlights to allow the light to flood in from above. The side walls consist of stacked 2cm slabs of granite, which display beautiful shadows from the sunlight entering through the various plant leaves.
In a bustling and sometimes chaotic city with a metropolitan area population of 9 million people, this stunning urban oasis offers peace and tranquillity within the its living walls.
Sources
– Architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Daisuke Sanuki, Shunri Nishizawa of Vo Trong Nghia Co., ltd.
– First spotted on ARCH DAILY
– Photography by Hiroyuki Oki
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