House for Trees

House for Trees, a prototypical house by Vo Trong Nghia Architects, is an effort to re-establish the connections between Vietnamese urban areas and the nature bringing back green spaces into the city.

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
Vo Trong Nghia Architects,House for Trees, Tanbinh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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.


House for Trees, Tanbinh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Program: single-family house
Architects: Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Principal architects: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto, Kosuke Nishijima
Architect: Nguyen Tat Dat
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC
Photographer: Hiroyuki Oki
Area: 111.66 sqm
Completion: 2014

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