Nishizawa Architects recently completed a home renovation in southern Vietnam’s Chau Doc using humble and local materials like corrugated metal sheets, second-hand timber and Vietnamese hardwood. As the area is often flooded, most of the houses are lifted by stilts.
Rethought for the three separate families living under a single roof, the three-storey structure was fitted with huge rotating windows and roof shutters which swing open to let in the natural elements of sunlight and wind. The interior’s large and continuous volumes can be broken down by the moveable partitions, allowing the families privacy when needed.
It’s encouraging to see this contemporary-meets-traditional housing style popping up in the Vietnam, regardless of location and budget. The architects say, “It would be one of emergent subjects for us, Vietnamese architects, to propose alternative and contemporary ways of living by inheriting their cultures, not by fading out their regional spirits.”
Images: ©Hiroyuki Oki, ©Nishizawa Architects