Yahoo – AFP,
Cat Barton, 25 Jan 2015
 |
Farmer Vo
Van Duong rests inside a S-House 2 built in his garden in Vietnam's
southern
Mekong delta province of Long An on December 11, 2014 (AFP Photo/
Hoang Dinh
Nam)
|
Long An
(Vietnam) (AFP) - Vo Van Duong's bamboo and coconut leaf house looks much like
others deep in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. But unlike them, his seemingly simple
abode is designed to withstand typhoons, flooding and earthquakes -- and at a
cost of less than $4,000 could herald a new wave of cheap, sustainable housing.
The natural
materials on its surface belie the hi-tech internal structure of the farmer's
new home, which uses steel struts and wall panels as a defence against the
elements in this natural disaster-prone region.
 |
Architect
Vo Trong Nghia speaks during
an interview with AFP in Ho Chi Minh City
on December 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang
Dinh Nam)
|
Duong is
testing a prototype by an award-winning Vietnamese architecture firm looking
for low-cost housing solutions for communities vulnerable to climate change.
His S-House
2 was free, but if rolled-out on a wider scale could be sold for less than
$4,000.
"There
was water coming down from the roof in my old house. Sometimes, when there was
a strong wind, I was so afraid the house wouldn't survive," Duong said,
adding his new home was the envy of his neighbours.
The
eco-home is the brainchild of Vo Trong Nghia, who joins other architects around
the world in trying to fill a demand for cheap and easy to assemble housing --
from flat-pack refugee shelters to shipping-container homes for tsunami
victims.
He says all
architects have a duty to help the poor.
"What
about those with low income, billions of them, how can they live?" Nghia
told AFP. "They have the right to live in comfortable, functional
places."
But he
wants to go further, creating a home residents can take pride in.
"I
don't want people to be looking at it as 'cheap houses' but as resort-quality
accommodation close to nature, so (residents) can live a life of the highest
quality."
Flat-pack homes
 |
Farmer Vo
Van Duong in the garden of a S-House 2 in Vietnam's southern Mekong
delta
province of Long An on December 11, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)
|
Flat-pack homes
The design
is still being refined by his team, who are eventually aiming to create a
flat-pack home. The newest version, S-House 3, can be built by five people in
three hours.
"Our
goal for S-house is for the owner to construct it by themselves," said
Kosuke Nishijima, a partner at the firm.
The latest
design also allows for multiple houses to be tacked together, a function that
could allow, for example, the construction of a storm-proof school easily
transportable to remote areas or a larger family home.
Nghia has
already been approached by NGOs in disaster-prone Bangladesh and the
Philippines, but is not yet ready to supply the house commercially.
From
saline-intrusion and flooding in the Mekong Delta to typhoons along the central
coast, Vietnam is also home to communities living in high risk areas.
For
decades, Vietnamese families have adapted their houses themselves, many
building ad hoc mezzanines to avoid flooding.
In more
recent years organisations including the Red Cross and Women's Unions, as well
as local authorities, have been trying to help people develop more resilient
housing.
 |
A bedroom
inside an ecologically conscious traditional Vietnamese tube house
designed by
architect Vo Trong Nghia's company, in Ho Chi Minh City on
December 12, 2014
(AFP Photo/Hoang Dinh Nam)
|
But in
order to ensure such projects are successful, "private architects' support
is critical", according to Boram Kim, an urban specialist with UN-Habitat
in Vietnam.
"State
and local government authorities are well aware that such houses are needed for
the poor, but have little technical knowledge for realising their ideas,"
she told AFP.
"Architects
have technical knowledge for reducing the housing construction cost while
making it storm proof," she said, cautioning that it was important for
designers to listen to the needs of local communities.
Architect
for the poor
Nghia's
firm found that one of the problems facing rural Vietnamese living in
traditional bamboo shacks or stilted river-bank dwellings is the costly upkeep
they require to withstand increasingly extreme weather.
Although
the S-House 2's outer casing of coconut leaf may need replacing every four
years, the structure itself should require no expensive maintenance, said
engineer Lien Phuoc Huy Phuong.
 |
A series of
concrete slabs and gaps filled
with plants in the facade of an ecologically
conscious traditional Vietnamese tube house
designed by architect Vo Trong
Nghia's
company, in Ho Chi Minh City, on December
12, 2014 (AFP Photo/Hoang
Ding Nam)
|
Despite its solid exterior, the house is spacious and airy inside, with large windows and doors to bring residents closer to nature.
"We
tried to design this house with the best ventilation system, with spaces by the
roof and windows for better air flow," Phuong said, pointing out strategic
gaps that should reduce the need for electric fans.
Architect
Nghia, who used bamboo as a key element in Vietnam's country pavilion for the
2010 World Expo in Shanghai, has long sought to incorporate natural and local
materials into his work.
One of his
first projects in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City was an ecologically-conscious take
on a traditional Vietnamese tube home, known as Stacking Green house.
Built in
2011 for around $150,000, the building is made of a series of concrete slabs
and gaps filled with plants to provide privacy while still allowing plenty of
air and light.
Nghia is in
strong demand for high-end projects from hotels to private houses, but said the
low-cost S-House is his personal obsession.
"I
want to live in S-House. If my family will agree," he said.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment