Hasta La Ideas

Vietnamese studio Vo Trong Nghia Architects plans to address the housing crisis in Vietnam by introducing modular homes that use cheap local materials and are easy to assemble.

Housing areas in the country have been expanding at a rapid pace over the last ten years but according to the architects many families still live in houses that have less than ten square metres in floor area.

“The project started as voluntary work, responding to the serious housing issue for low income classes in Vietnam,” Vo Trong Nghia Architects‘ Masaaki Iwamoto told Dezeen. “We inspected Mekong Delta Area, where the housing problems for the poor are very serious.”

The architects came up with a concept for a house with a lightweight steel structure, before building full-size prototypes of a house and office with layered walls of corrugated polycarbonate and bamboo.

“If we make the house with concrete and bricks, which is the most typical structure in south-east Asia, it can be very dangerous even though the house itself is strong, just because of the soft and weak condition of the ground,” said Iwamoto. “So we decided to design a lightweight structure within a squeezed budget.”

On the assumption that bathroom and kitchen facilities will be located outside, the buildings are designed as single rooms where living, sleeping and dining areas are divisible through changes in the floor level or by drawing curtains.

Beds fold down from the side walls and can also be used as seating areas and each residence can be extended to allow extra room for growing families.

To reduce construction costs, residents are invited to contribute to the construction process, plus to reduce living costs each house will be equipped with natural ventilation systems and rainwater harvesting facilities.

Now they’ve built the prototypes, the architects plan to develop the design to make it even more affordable. “Another possibility is to utilise cheap local materials such as coconuts leaves for walls or roof,” said Iwamoto, “and we will try to improve and enhance the indoor environment more, without using a power supply.”

“Some of our friends have already shown their interest to apply this prototype as a voluntary investment,” he added. “We are trying to find out the way to realize it.”

This isn’t the first sustainable architecture project by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. Other projects we’ve featured include a house with a vertical garden and a school with sheltered open-air corridors.

We’ve also interviewed principal architect Vo Trong Nghia about his plans to reduce the energy crisis in both residential and public buildings. See all our stories about Vo Trong Nghia Architects.

Photography is by Hiroyuki Oki.

Here’s a project description from Vo Trong Nghia:

According to the statistics, the quantity of total housing area in Vietnam has been increased tenfold in the last decade. However, many families are still living in very small houses, some of which are less than 10 square meters. It is an important issue for Vietnam to provide houses for low-income classes.

The aim of this project is to propose a prototype house for low-income classes in the Mekong Delta area. By minimizing the functions of the house and using low cost materials throughout, the construction cost of a house can be brought down to as little as about 3200USD. Living expenses will also be reduced by using natural resources and energies.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Two prototypes were experimentally constructed in Dong Nai province, on the construction site of a Kindergarten project designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. The first house, with a floor area of 22.5 square meters, was designed as a model home, the second, measuring 18 square meters, was designed as a site office for the Kindergarten, showing the flexibility of this prototype.

Above: house floor plan – click above for larger image

On the assumption that the bathroom and kitchen are placed outside and shared with several families, the house has minimum space for living, eating and sleeping. The plan was designed to be adjustable toward the longitudinal direction, allowing for future expansion of family members and functions. Its interior is a simple one-room space, articulated by curtains and differences in level of the floor. The floor rises higher in part, creating minimum furniture such as a desk.

Above: house front elevation – click above for larger image

The other distinctive feature is the installation of folding beds, which allow the dwellers to sit on the floor during the day. These beds can also be transformed into sofas if required.

Above: house rear elevation – click above for larger image

In order to reduce the construction cost, dwellers are encouraged to participate in the construction process. The structure of the prototype house is, therefore, a lightweight steel frame, which is easy to assemble without the use of machines, nor special techniques. Considering the recyclability of materials, wet joints are avoided as possible. The roof is supported by truss-beams composed of steel bars, which minimize steel material and give ideal pitch for waterproofing.

Above: office floor plan – click above for larger image

The envelope of the house is composed of a polycarbonate panel wall and corrugated FRP panel roof, and bamboo louvers are set inside of it. Both materials are available everywhere in Vietnam and are cheap, light and replaceable. Bamboo is rapid-growing and therefore the eco-friendly material.

Above: office front elevation – click above for larger image

Translucent envelope and bamboo louvers filter harsh direct sunshine in the tropical climate. The interior is filled with diffused light and reduces the need for artificial lighting, dramatically reducing electricity consumption. There is also a gap between the roof and the wall, which has the function of evacuating the hot air. As the whole space is naturally ventilated there is no need for an air conditioner to be installed in this house. A pent roof was designed to collect rain water for daily use in the dry season. Utilizing blessings of nature, dwellers can save great amount of energies, resources and therefore money.

Above: office rear elevation – click above for larger image

Project Name: Low Cost House
Location: Dong Nai Province, Vietnam
Competion: 08/2012
Architect Firm: Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Principal architect’s Name: Vo Trong Nghia, Masaaki Iwamoto
Architect’s Name: Kosuke Nishijima
Contractor: Wind and Water House JSC
Client: Wind and Water House JSC
Floor area Floor.1: 22.5m2, Floor.2: 18m2

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Vo Trong Nghia Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Three sandstone wings protect an inner courtyard from fierce coastal winds at this seaside house in Ireland by Tierney Haines Architects.

Located 30 metres from the seafront, House in Blacksod Bay is surrounded by countryside, so Tierney Haines Architects drew inspiration from the local architecture to create three gabled buildings that reference traditional farmhouses.

The family that occupies the house spend most of their time in the two-storey eastern wing and the large central kitchen, which can be separated from the guest suite to the west by a series of moving partitions. ”The client asked for a stone house that would make the most of the site and that could be divided in two for winter and summer use,” architect Stephen Tierney told Dezeen.

The rugged dry stone walls were constructed using local Lacken sandstone, which will naturally weather with age but also protect the house from intense weather. “When there are storms there can be seaweed on the roof,” said Tierney.

Window sills and lintels are also made from roughly cut stone, while slate tiles cover the steeply pitched rooftops.

Inside the house, oak-framed windows set up views of the surrounding landscape. “You drive into the protected courtyard and there are glimpses through the blocks of the distant mountains, you enter the hall door and a distant view of the open sea is framed, then as you move further into the house the views open up one after the other,” explained Tierney.

“There is a real pleasure standing in the large window openings framed by 700-millimetre thick walls and see the Atlantic storms several centimetres from your nose but not feel them,” he added.

Other Irish residences we’ve featured include a blue limestone-clad house extension and a mews house with protruding brickwork.

See more stories about houses in Ireland »

Photography is by Stephen Tierney.

Here’s some more information from Tierney Haines Architects:

House on Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo, Ireland.

This family home on Blacksod Bay in west Mayo takes its inspiration from local farms and the small courtyard enclosures they make. The house faces south to the sea that is a mere 30 metres away, the courtyard form provides shelter in a location where it is difficult to use planting. The dwelling’s heavy stone walls anchor the building in its rugged setting and give protection against the severe weather.

This is a house for large family gatherings with the kitchen at the heart of the house. In the winter the two storey block can be closed off for the immediate family while in summer the house expands for the many visitors. Access from the courtyard and circulation through the house are orientated with constant reference to the views of the open sea, islands, beach – a two hundred degree panorama.

The materials selected mirror the qualities of the site and were chosen to weather and age, sandstone, limed oak, zinc. The local Lacken sandstone is as hard as granite, has a warm variety of tone and brings continuity from exterior to interior. The rough drystone wall is refined by cut stone lintels and sills which lead to the use of a similar finish internally on both walls and floors.

Above: site plan

The internal spaces are varied in section and make use of quieter textures and a limited palette of colours and materials. The deep window reveals are lined with limed oak. Curtains are made from undyed linen. Externally, rough sandstone masks the window frames focussing the viewers attention on the landscape beyond. As one moves through the quiet interior, views of the wild landscape are composed through generous glazing.

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

The house is BER A rated for energy using 320mm cellulose insulation, HRV ventilation, geothermal heating and taking benefit from its south facing aspect.

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

Area: 450 sqm
Project Stage: Completed
Design: 2009 – Completion: 2012

Above: section AA – click above for larger image

Architects – Tierney Haines Architects, Stephen Tierney, James Casey, Gabriella Regina, Sandy Rendel, Alex Doran.
Contractor – Vincent Naughton Builders, Vincent Naughton, Rory McGinty, Diane Naughton
Engineer – EDPM, Frank Endicott, Alan Guildea
Service Engineer – Fergus Doran
Lighting Design – Contemporary Lighting Solutions, James Hornsby

Above: section BB – click above for larger image

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Tierney Haines Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Portuguese architect Miguel Marcelino has completed a rural family house with red concrete walls and three separate terraces.

Located in Benavente, near Lisbon, the building is named Three Courtyards House in reference to the three differently sized patios positioned at the north and south ends of the house. “This was the way I found to solve the problem of having the best oriented sun on the south side and the best views on the north side,” Miguel Marcelino told Dezeen.

The largest terrace is to the north and features a stepped surface with a sunken swimming pool. Meanwhile, the southern end features a courtyard with a cork oak tree, plus a smaller yard with high walls.

“One could be quiet at the large inner enclosed courtyard with the sun and the big cork oak,” said the architect. “And, in the vertical courtyard facing the framed view to the lake with the sun reflected on the outer wall, be embraced and protected by the house in a cold and harsh side like the north one,” he added.

The architect used fair-faced concrete for the walls and structure of the building, washed with an acid-based etching solution to add texture. ”This finishing, raw and earthy, was chosen because in such a landscape I thought that it would be better that this house had the feel like it would come out of the ground, more rooted and anchored to this place,” he said.

The house has two storeys, with a living room and kitchen on the ground floor and bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs.

We’ve featured a few Portuguese residences on Dezeen recently, including a concrete house in Moreira and a townhouse covered in plants in Lisbon.

See more stories about Portuguese houses »

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Here’s some more information from Miguel Marcelino:

Three Courtyards House

The plot is located in the middle of a ìmontadoî landscape, being the best views to the north with a lake and the skyline punctuated by cork oak trees.

The house is organized in a compact volume of two floors, complemented by three courtyards all different in size and features.

A first large courtyard, enclosed, intimate, situates on the south side, embracing a big existing cork oak.

Next to the back entrance there is another smaller patio, for service.

The third courtyard works as a key element in the relationship between home and the north side.

It is a slim space with a large horizontal opening that frames the landscape and it has an atmosphere of a “inner space outdoors”, the light is soft, by reflection on the outer wall that receives direct sunlight.

This vertical courtyard communicates with a staircase that leads to an open terrace, the last element of the sequence of spaces, patios and atmospheres that go from more introspective and private to more open and outside.

Above: ground and first floor plans – click above to see larger image

Above: long section – click above to see larger image

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by Miguel Marcelino appeared first on Dezeen.

Panoramic Pacific views can be enjoyed from terraces created by the tiered levels of this hillside house in Chile by architects Elton + Léniz (+ slideshow).

“We worked the steep site with a terrace on every level, with the volumes of the building each facing out from the site to the sea,” Nicolás Jure Wilkens of Elton + Léniz told Dezeen.

The concrete of the lower floors is juxtaposed with the timber cladding that surrounds the top volume.

“We decided to make the upper floor with a very light structure, making it different to the lower floors,” Wilkens explained. “We chose to use this kind of wood because as time passes it becomes a grey colour, similar to the concrete.”

The house is organised over four tiered levels, connected by staircases that follow the steep slope.

From the car park on the lowest level the first flight of stairs rises under a balcony to the main living spaces, which provide access to the outdoor spaces to the west and north.

More steps climb into a double-height hallway on the third level, where a peek at the sea is offered from the principle entrance at the back of the property.

The largest of the terraces is located on the same floor, bordered by planters rather than railings so the view remains uninterrupted.

The bedrooms are reached after a final ascent to top floor, where an additional balcony faces back towards the hill.

We’ve recently featured another hillside house in Chile, which is designed to be earthquake-proof yet features six rooms in glass boxes.

See all our stories about houses »
See all our stories about Chile »

Photography is by Natalia Vial.

Below is some additional text from the architects:

El Pangue House stands on a steep slop site facing the ocean view.

The house is developed towards a central vertical circulation, connecting the 4 levels and 3 terraces in which the house is organized, in order to get as much of the view of the pacific ocean as possible, taking advantage of the height offered by the natural slop of the site.

Each level organizes a different part of the program; the access goes through the lower level were you find parking zone, storage and an open shower.

The next level up meets the public zones of the house such as kitchen, play room, dining room and living room. The third level features bedrooms and family room and the fourth the main bedroom.

Above: ground floor plan – click for larger image

The constructive system is generated upon sustaining concrete walls that terraces the site in three levels. The fourth level was designed in lightweight structure with wood siding.

Above: first floor plan – click for larger image

The living room level appears as a great terrace surrounded by planters which replaces the railings.

Above: second floor plan – click for larger image

Architects: Elton+Leniz Arquitectos asociados.
Associated Architects: Mirene Elton, Mauricio Leniz
Colaborating Architect : Germán Rodríguez Olivo.
Builder: Beranda
Site Area: 2.093 m2
SBuilt Area: 437 m2

Above: basement plan – click for larger image

Project Year: 2006-2007
Construction Year: 2008-2009
Materials: Concrete, Brick, Wood
Photographs: Natalia Vial

Above: long section

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by Elton + Léniz appeared first on Dezeen.

This earthquake-proof house on a hillside in western Chile by architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen has six rooms with glass walls (+ photos by Cristobal Palma).

Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen were asked to design the house for a pair of artists whose former home had been destroyed during the major earthquake of 2010, so the architects decided to create a building with a strong structure that could withstand another disaster.

“For things to last, for them to withstand the weight of time, they must suffer. The question was to what extent this tension should be made visible,” they explain.

They gave the building an exposed steel skeleton, which frames the glass rooms on the three upper floors as well as two ceramics workshops on the lower ground floor.

These powder-coated black columns and beams create a chunky grid across each elevation, contrasting with the translucent white curtains that hang behind the glazing.

“There is a feeling of serenity and tension in the whole building,” Pezo told Dezeen. “Despite its unstable degree of transparency, it is a monolithic and bold structure.”

“But there is something uncomfortable about the dimensions of the elements of that structure,” he added. “Considering the small volume of the house, [the structural members] seem too thick to be steel and too slender to be concrete. Perhaps this building is no more than a piece of infrastructure.”

The staircase splits the house across the middle and connects the living rooms on the upper ground floor with drawing studios on the first floor and the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor.

Crossbeams either side of the staircase provide extra structural support and create the framework for built-in furniture.

Other projects we’ve featured in Chile include a library filled with daylight and a spa in a herb garden.

See all our stories about Chile »

Photography is by Cristobal Palma. See all our stories featuring Cristobal Palma’s photos.

Here’s some information from the architects:

Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Arco House, Concepcion, 2010-2011

The decisions taken in the design of this house were the reaction to an accident. It was created for an artist couple: he works with paper, engravings and digital publishing; she with enamelled ceramic. They had previously been living together in a big old house on the side of a hill, but this was destroyed during the earthquake that devastated central Chile in 2010. Resistance is not only opposition to a force, but also tolerance, patience, being strong-willed. For things to last, for them to withstand the weight of time, they must suffer. The question was to what extent this tension should be made visible.

The house is a vertical structure with a small rectangular (1:2) floor plan. An almost blind plinth of concrete sealed with asphalt is used to embed the house into the natural terrain. From this plinth emerge six steel 250 × 250 × 8 mm columns; the beams scarcely alter in thickness from one floor to the next. This rigid-frame structure defines six equal rooms. To this we simply added a compact piece of furniture which serves as a support for the units and the services. At the centre of gravity of the floor, the crossbeams are duplicated in order to create a vertical circulation in which the 45º intersecting nodes are bracing squares and double-landing steps. The steel components have been fireproofed and brightly enamelled with a coarse grain.

Too thick to be of steel, too thin to be of concrete, the black structure frame seems awkward when we consider the size of the volume it supports, so that between the frames, curtains and reflections this monolithic and generic new prism acquires a serene presence – perhaps with something of that ‘gentle unity’ that Georg Simmel described ruins as having.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Location: Concepcion, Chile
Architects: Mauricio Pezo, Sofia von Ellrichshausen
Collaborators: Bernhard Maurer, Diogo Porto, Joao Lopes, Antonio Conroy, Eleonora Bassi, Lena Johansen, Julliana Valle, Tim Simon
Client: Barbara Bravo, Claudio Romo
Builder: Ricardo Ballesta
Structure: German Aguilera
Building services: Marcelo Valenzuela, Jaime Tatter
Plot surface: 450 m2
Built surface: 124 m2
Design year: 2010
Construction years: 2010-2011
Photography: Cristobal Palma

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

Above: third floor plan

Above: roof floor plan

Above: isonometric sectional drawing – click above for larger image

Above: section A-A

Above: section B-B

Above: house elevations

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Pezo von Ellrichshausen appeared first on Dezeen.