Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Located in the metropolitan city of Vietnam, Saigon, the Sky House by MIA Design Studio blends with the town’s busy life, namely the highest density of the construction, vehicles, and population of the country.

That followed the booming of urban infrastructure and traffic congestion, causing a reduction of green spaces, where people can seek tranquility and sit in harmony with nature to release stress.

Being a part of this urban context the Sky House location is characterized by numerous skyscrapers that surround the site, built close together, creating an uncomfortable scale relation between people and buildings and presenting difficulties when trying to design an ‘open’ and ‘airy’ project.

The project was recently awarded with a 2020 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

In combination with the architects’ desire is the personality of the owner who loves and enjoys inner-peace and calmness.

Therefore, the design team was determined to have a clear idea for the architectural plan, which could promote a deep horizontal and vertical connection between human to human and human to nature in this house.

The solution is to create connections between the spaces so that natural elements can be present and carried through every corner of the house, without any external influence or intention to maximize areas for unnecessary rooms, the design process started by dividing the house into two parts.

The first half is devoted to the sun, wind, water, and trees with its empty spaces, while the other half is dedicated for family activities with necessary utilities.

As an alternative to the common approach of opening the four sides of the house, the team created a vertical connection between the house and the sky.

This approach has allowed the house to receive natural sunlight from above and see the changes in weather and daylight hours.

Moreover, the project is not dependable from the surrounding context but has created its immanent landscape.

The connection between people and nature has been expressed in many ways while increasing connections between usable spaces through layers.

These layers become the main subject of the house, where parents and children can see each other from every room.

This is how architecture can heal people’s souls by harmonizing with nature. “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere,” said Vincent van Gogh.

Project: Sky House 
Architects: MIA Design Studio
Interior Designers: Le Vu Hai Trieu
Client: MIA Design Studio
General Contractor: Hop Nhut
Photographers: Oki Hiroyuki, Trieu Chien, and Hoang L