Thu Thiem, Vietnam | 2008

The proposed plaza, park, and bridge hosts ceremonial and everyday events in a new mixed-use district for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Our project creates a kilometer long plaza, green in its physical presence, green in its construction and dynamically scalable to the events of the city. Floating above the entire plaza and bridge is a monumental pergola, a filigree of steel cables covered in flowering vines, the patterns of the openings creating an ever changing play of shadow and light. This unifying roof turns the plaza into a single super-scaled outdoor living room. At the same time, a panoply of differently scaled openings create a series of perceptual spaces of different sizes, intimate at the lake end and becoming progressively more grand as they approach the Saigon River.

Comparison of Plaza Sizes:A network of paths and spaces defined by the landscape canopy extends over the river and creates the perception of a lengthened plaza that connects the two sections of the city.

As well as providing shade for the plaza, the urban scale canopy defines a multitude of programmatic activities and scales to animate the space around the clock.

The canopy and paving work in conjunction as a new infrastructure:  Both overhead photo-voltaics in the canopy and under-foot Piezo-electric flooring generates energy which then powers the lighting and public wi-fi installed in the canopy.  Runoff water collected from the permeable paving is filtered and re-used for public restrooms and to drip irrigate the canopy vines.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA + John Hong AIA, LEED (principals in charge), Jonathan Louie, Matthew Allen, Frederick Peter Ortner, Brett Albert, Daniel Cashen

landscape architect
Ground, Inc.



RELATED PROJECTS:

boston city hall	mass art	providence plaza

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Boston, MA | 2007
[Architecture Boston Feature]

Boston City Hall occupies one of the best pieces of land in Boston. At the intersection of 3 major subway lines and at the geographical heart of downtown, this is an ideal location for a dynamic civic center; however the current City Hall is accused of failing to interface effectively with the public. We propose taking advantage of a latent urban potential: The site is the missing link between the historic Fenway Park and the new Rose Kennedy Greenway.  By allowing the plaza to connect these important open spaces, City Hall will sit pavilion-like in a park, much like a New England meeting house at the center of urban life. Opening the City Hall to its surroundings and reprogramming it with public functions such as a meeting hall, a community/ cultural center, and a civic history museum will also make it an integral part of Boston’s historical ‘Freedom Trail.’



Aerial view of city hall:  At the infrastructural scale, the plaza surface is opened so that light and air can connect of the 3 buried subway lines to the activities of the plaza.  At the urban scale the greening of the plaza allows it to join the Fenway and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.



The plaza has the latent potential to provide the much needed connection between Fenway Park and the Rose Kennedy Greenway (left).  New public programs at City Hall can allow it to become a new addition to the ‘Freedom Trail.’ (right).

Revealing the red, green, and blue subway lines brings new public activity to the surface of the plaza.



Section through the plaza: Natural light and ventilation brought to the subway levels can also allow for new programs to be added underneath the plaza.

PROJECT CREDITS:

architect
Jinhee Park AIA + John Hong AIA/LEED (principals in charge), Frederick Peter Ortner, Catarina Marques, Jiseok Park



RELATED PROJECTS:

acc	czech library	boston harbor	prov plaza

index <  works < cultural