Nguyen Hoang Manh’s architecture has made a big impact to inspire the young Vietnamese architects and Vietnamese society at large. His design creations show how to develop the country and reserve the nature for future generations.
Having completed his B. Arch from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture, Manh completed his Master of Architecture from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. In the year 2003, Nguyen Hoang Manh established MIA Design Studio.
Nguyen Hoang Manh’s 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.
Being a part of the 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 the buildings. Thereby, presenting difficulties when trying to design an “open” and “airy” project. However, Nguyen Hoang Manh has proved that difficulty is in the mind and one can always overcome them creatively by designing the Sky House.
As an alternative to the common approach of opening the four sides of the house, Manh created a vertical connection between the house and the sky. The approach allowed the house to receive natural sunlight from above and the changes in weather and daylight hours will allow the occupants to enjoy natural light throughout the day.
MIA Design Studio seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy and development space. Sustainable design uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the building environment.
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.
Manh has brilliantly proved Vincent van Gogh’s saying, “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere”. He says, “This is how architecture can heal people’s soul by harmonizing with nature.”
The projects of MIA Design Studio are valued for their formal simplicity, integration of interior and exterior into fluid spaces with special attention to landscape and climate conditions of each project.
The owner of Sky House loves and enjoys inner-peace and calmness. The building reflects his personality.
The multi-layers become the main subject of the house, where parents and children can see each other from every room. It is one of the nouveau concept Manh has incorporated in this project.
The idea of sustainability or ecological design is to ensure that our actions and decisions today, do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations.
Saigon is a metropolitan city of Vietnam with the highest density of construction, vehicles and population of the country. With growing population, development has 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.
Image Courtesy: MIA Design Studio