Image Credit : LAVA
Project Overview
LAVA, with partner ASPECT Studio, has won the international competition to design the 16 hectare Central Park in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with construction due to start in 2020.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Project Brief
The site has always been about transportation. It had the first train station in south east Asia. The design references this history and future mobility, with Vietnam’s first metro station soon to be opened. Known locally as ‘September 23 Park’ it also hosts the important annual spring festival.
The design transforms this urban oasis into an informal space with the emphasis on user experience and place-making whilst also meeting the 21st-century requirements of social and environmental sustainability. Renouncing the formal, unfriendly grid, the design is informal, multiuse, friendly, connected and continuous.
Project Need
Visioned as a place for people, the design was formulated with a focus on the diversity of experiences needed to create a world-class central park: one that responds to its context, climate, and community, meets the needs of people on a daily basis, as well as for visitors, gatherings, and celebration. The design is layered with a series of spaces, places, and experiences. Benchmarked against other world class parks, the result is a park for the future which respects its past and culture
Gently elevated curving pedestrian walkways are patterned on 19th century railway tracks built by the French. Sunken gardens provide performance and play spaces and connect to an underground shopping area linking to the new metro station. Artificial trees provide shelter and harvest water and energy.
The metaphoric ‘railway lines’ remind visitors of the old urban fabric, provide directional paths, maximise the park's existing greenery, increase access to diverse functional areas and delineate a mix of active and passive spaces. They end with a dramatically twisting steel sculpture that further memorialises the transport history.
Sustainability
Artificial plants will complement the existing landscape. ‘Water purification’ trees collect rainwater to be recycled and used for watering, drinking fountains and fire hydrants. ‘Ventilation trees’ reduce heat and create fresh air. ‘Solar trees’ feature solar panels angled to optimise radiation and store power, and info screens, charging docks, WIFI routers.
Government - Space
Government projects celebrate the courage of both commissioners and creators design projects across the government, education and other publicly funded sectors.
The space category celebrates the design process and outcomes of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. It includes architecture, interior design and landscape design as well as set display and exhibition design.
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