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An Award-Winning Beauty for a Sultry Climate with Erratic Electricity

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From the Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia comes this intriguing open-sided house located in Ho Chi Minh City.

A vertical garden provides nature’s climate control, through the cooling effect of greenery filtering the breezes.

The compact city house welcomes the always sultry and wet climate of Vietnam.

On the uppermost floor, a skylight brings light into an airy and open bathing room within the “forest glade.”.

Whether its hot, or raining, or both, this is a cool and refreshing place.

This elevation shows how on each floor, the cooling effect of the greenery can mitigate this combination of environmental factors.

The architect has essentially created a dwelling that stays temperate and pleasant in the same way that walking within a forest glade can feel noticeably cooler than out in the sun.

In this way, the house can be comfortable in periods with no electricity.

In a video interview, Nghia told Dezeen that Vietnam is “developing so quick,” but shouldn’t fall into the easy trap of following the architectural styles of western countries.

“The climate is totally different, yet we almost do the same thing,” he says, before explaining why he designed this house for the continuous “hot summer” rather than for the changing seasons of Europe. As well, “In Vietnam we have many problems with energy and electricity, it can stop many times a day.”

So his design is engineered to withstand frequent day-long power shortages typical of the region.

Beautifully executed, his “Stacking Green” has just won the award in the house category at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore.