Villa Tan Dinh: Devoted to Nature

Unlike most houses in the neighbourhood—Tanh Dinh ward in Ho Chi Minh City’s most condensed district—that maximise building upon their plots of land to create monolithic enclosed masses, the architects sought to reduce the built-up spaces of this house from the start. From discussions with the owner, they pared down the programme to the point where it could fulfil the occupants’ needs—no more and no less.

The architects envisioned the living spaces to be immersed in large gardens instead of merely having a few small green zones at the entrance. As they told FuturArc: “Most of the house’s area is devoted to natural spaces rather than prioritising usable areas.”

The guiding concept was for the living spaces to hover above gardens, giving one the feeling of walking on bridges. All the primary activities in the house are planned to take place in ‘empty zones’: in between the greenery, which comprises various types of planters (including creeper vines), a terraced garden at the sub-basement level and sky gardens on the upper floors; the pond on the second level; and the stacked voids that let in natural daylight.

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In Asia’s compact living environments, gardens or green lots are still sometimes relegated to ‘nice-to-have’ decorative elements on the borders or leftover areas of activity zones. If one is fortunate enough to own a property on which to build one’s home, then perhaps natural flora does not have to be an after-thought or option for residual spaces. What if instead of incorporating natural greenery or flora to occupy the in-between spaces in residences, we make them part of the daily living experience? Could we craft living areas out of these green/natural spaces? Here, we showcase two houses with living spaces […]

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