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Architects: MAS Architects
- Area: 343 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:HoangLe Photography
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Manufacturers: Toto
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Lead Architect: Minh Thai Do
Regional architecture - The construction takes place in Soc Son, a suburban district of Hanoi, where the agricultural land has been tremendously reduced in accordance with local economic growth. Urban area and industrialized zone projects have decreased agricultural soil size and led farmers to gradually lose their farming land. This fact is clearly reflected during harvest seasons when farmers dry their produce right on highways or town roads due to the lack of drying grounds. This seriously endangers traffic flow and drivers’ safety. Lots of accidents have occurred due to farmer’s land transgression.
Design mission - Three generations live under one roof but work in a variety of professions, namely office clerks, businessman, fishermen and farmers. This mixture in job choices results from local economic growth tendency when young qualified labour usually work in economic area and elderly labours keep their farming practice. As a result, it is mandatory that the design incorporate both the demand for utility usage and architectural aspects. The new project will perfectly address older member’s needs for agricultural production, young member’s wishes for morden atmosphere, owner’s desire for living harmony with nature and minimizing all weather effects to family living spaces.
Architecture - The Up House project is composed of five separate masses, which are integrated and arranged with simple design concepts and well-connected with each other through corridors. The project meets all demands of a family, consisting of a shared living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms, a storeroom, and a bathroom. The masses are cornered in a way that best suits the directions of the land. As a result, the front of the property faces south to welcome cool breezes. The different heights of masses enable the higher ones to cast shadows on the lower ones, producing the smallest surface associated with the sunlight yet still allowing ventilation around the masses.
All the masses are closely surrounded by the courtyard garden and trees, allowing the living space to be in harmony with the beautiful nature. The trees surrounding are all local trees casting vast shadows on the ground and generating economical benefits such as grapefruit, starfruit, sabodilla, dracontomelon, etc. Underneath the green foliage is a playground and hang-out area for children to play around on the lawn. Several sections could be intended for raising poultry for daily meals, like chickens, rabbits, birds, etc…The elevated first floor brings the clearance to the ground of the house and helps avoid humidity from land and, at the same time, fight against invasive species such as rats, snakes, etc…
The entire rooftop is designed to dry farm produce and other family agricultural products. It comprises of 2 layers, turning itself into a natural oven and quickly aiding the drying. All the rainfall will be drained down directly to an underneath detention tank, which then can be used for recycling water sources and watering plants. The overall plan not only creates the new architecture but addresses all farming production requirements as well, preventing farmer’s careless drying and lower construction costs.
