Low-impact greenfield university campus

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Slipping into the natural site.

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    Hand-over presentation to the winners of the global Holcim Awards Silver prize (l-r): Masaaki Gokura, Representative of the Consul General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City; members of the winning team: Kazuko Akamatsu and Kazuhiro Kojima, architects, Coelacanth and Associates Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan; Daisuke Sanuki, architect, Daisuke Sanuki Architectural Design Office, Tokyo, Japan; Vo Trong Nghia, architect, Vo Trong Nghia Co. Ltd, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Holcim representatives: Gérard Letellier, Area Manager of Holcim, Switzerland; and Aidan Lynam, CEO of Holcim Vietnam, Vietnam.

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    Holcim Award Silver 2008 prize winning team (l-r): Daisuke Sanuki, architect, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba, Japan; Kazuhiro Kojima, main author and architect, Coelacanth and Associates, Tokyo, Japan; and Vo Trong Nghia, architect, Vo Trong Nghia Co., Ltd, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Plans for a 40ha university campus on the margin of the Mekong Delta, maximizing the integration of nature with the design.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": According to computer fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, the campus building plan was realized without air conditioning, a wind fluid design.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Swampy site condition.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Student activity fluid design.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Faculties and main circulation.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Fluid space for activity.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Shading system and ventilation.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Variety of sequential spaces.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Pleasant alfresco space.

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    Project entry 2008 Asia Pacific - "Low-impact greenfield university campus, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam": Kazuhiro Kojima, President of Coelacanth and Associates Co., Ltd., which he established in 1986. He is also Associate Professor at the Science University of Tokyo.

  • Awards Silver 2008–2009 Global
  • Awards Silver 2008–2009 Asia Pacific

Plans for a greenfield university campus in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta acknowledges the needs of both people and the environment. The design of this unique complex was informed by computer analyses of wind and activity flows. Rather than an imposing structure, the architecture merges seamlessly with the landscape, and includes passive design to reduce air conditioning and as many outside shaded spaces as possible.

By Kazuhiro Kojima - Coelacanth and Associates C+A, Tokyo, Japan and

Ideas: Embodied Carbon , Circular Design

Plans for a greenfield university campus in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta acknowledges the needs of both people and the environment. The design of this unique complex was informed by computer analyses of wind and activity flows.

Rather than an imposing structure, the architecture merges seamlessly with the landscape, and includes passive design to reduce air conditioning and as many outside shaded spaces as possible.

Low-impact greenfield university campus

Project authors

  • Kazuhiro Kojima

    Coelacanth and Associates C+A

    Japan

  • Vo Trong Nghia

    Vo Trong Nghia Co. Ltd

    Viet Nam

  • Sanuki Daisuke

    Daisuke Sanuki Architectural Design Office

    Japan

Project updates

May 07, 2024 | Podcast | Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Calm the mind, connect with place

Võ Trọng Nghia from VTN Architects explores how meditation is the key to healing ourselves and saving the planet.
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May 08, 2009 | Global Jury Report | Zurich, Switzerland

“Aspires to achieve harmony with all elements of the surrounding ecosystem” – Holcim Awards Jury

A new campus for an architectural university in the middle of the Mekong River delta aspires to achieve harmony with all elements of the surrounding ecosystem: the waters of the river and the flooding of the rice fields, the mangroves, the winds and their patterns as well as with the seasonal changes of light and shadow. The project avoids massive reclamation of land. It so also emulates traditions of Southeast Asian agricultural civilization.

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May 08, 2009 | Media release | Zurich, Switzerland

Highly-acclaimed examples of sustainable construction

The second cycle of the Holcim Awards competition has reached its pinnacle: the top sustainable construction projects out of thousands of submissions from all continents have been selected. The four winning entries are a river remediation scheme in Morocco, a greenfield university campus in Vietnam, a rural planning strategy in China, and a shelter for day laborers in the USA. A series of prize-handovers will be held at the site of each project to celebrate the winners and their highly-acclaimed examples of sustainable construction.

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November 28, 2008 | Winners for Asia Pacific announced | New Delhi, India

Solid future for sustainable construction in Asia Pacific

The winners of the second Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction from across region Asia Pacific were announced at a ceremony in New Delhi. Total prize money of USD 270,000 was presented to ten projects that show future-oriented and tangible approaches to urban renewal and development, energy efficiency and affordable housing.

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June 05, 2008 | Regional Jury Report – Asia Pacific | Shanghai, China

“An entire and striking design strategy” – Holcim Awards Jury

The crucial starting point of this new campus situated on an island in the Mekong Delta was the question of how space and education could coexist and how connectivity and separation between the different university departments could be realized. Further challenges were the seasonal climatic variation with high temperatures, strong winds and heavy rainfalls as well as the large variation of the surrounding sea level.

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February 29, 2008 | Project Summary and Submission Details | Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam

Project Entry 2008 for Asia Pacific

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a new Low-impact greenfield university campus is being built. The project acknowledges the needs of both people and the environment. The design of this unique complex was informed by computer analyses of wind and activity flows. Rather than an imposing structure, the architecture merges seamlessly with the landscape.

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Location

pin Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam