Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Located in Ho Chi Minh City, the Theatre of Ballet, Symphony, Orchestra, and Opera by DLR Group, DWP, and landscape architects Lowder + Murata is a conceptual designed building that intends to preserve and promote Vietnamese local traditional and cultural values in the context of international integration.
This building, along with other cultural architecture shall be the icon, a signature of the architecture and art of the City named after President Ho Chi Minh, a typical cultural work of value, modern cohesive architecture in line with advanced technologies, which ensures the services of staging and performing world-class art performances.
Vietnam’s Theatre of Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera has recently been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Its construction has contributed to raising the position of Ho Chi Minh City as well as Vietnam in the region and the world.
Two main theaters are the heart of the project.
The design offsets their location so that the patron is encouraged to move through the building, rising upward to experience the city from various vantage points.
Exterior plazas and terraces at different heights in the building allow for performances and events to fluidly move from the interior to the exterior and provide flexible spaces that can be reimagined for more unconventional programs and different performance types.
The enveloping façade is reminiscent of the wings and feathers of the songbird and the material is intended to create a feeling of movement as the sun moves across the sky.
The building form is evocative of the local Saigon songbirds that are a tradition within the city, drawing the community and international visitors to hear them perform in the local parks.
The beauty of sound as well as the graceful form is an ideal reference to the performances and movement that will happen within.
Perched on the edge of the water, the building affords magnificent views over the Saigon River and the city, as well as promotes an iconic image for those approaching the site.
As the front of the building reaches toward the water it forms a partially enclosed amphitheater that faces the river and extends out towards a landscaped plaza that will provide a vibrant public place for the people of the city.
Project: Vietnam Theatre of Ballet, Symphony, Orchestra, and Opera
Architects: DLR Group
Design Team: Vanessa Kassabian, Paul Westlake, Jonathan Rankin, Shiyun Yu, Kane Hassebrock, Zach Butler, Kyle Zook, Yu-Ting Chang, Shawn Carr, and Prem Sundharam
Associate Architects: DWP
Client: Planning Information Center of Ho Chi Minh City
