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



