FPT University To Get Tree-Filled Campus In Ho Chi Minh City

As part of its latest project, Vietnam-based architectural firm, Vo Trong Nghia Architects, has re-imagined the university campus as a living, breathing space, featuring lush tree-lined rooftops, balconies and a stunning plant-covered courtyard. The plan envisions a verdant campus building for the privately-owned FPT University, right in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. It is the firm’s second project with the technical university, the first being a chequerboard-shaped campus currently under construction in the country’s capital, Hanoi.

Spread over a 22,500-square-meter area, the university’s upcoming Ho Chi Minh City campus serves as an oasis among the sea of skyscrapers presently crowding the southern part of Vietnam. The building’s staggered design somewhat resembles the shape of a terraced tree-topped mountain. At the center of the campus lies a spectacular green courtyard, with rows of plants extending from one of its ends to the other. Speaking about the project, the studio’s spokesperson said:

This sprawling metropolis has a primarily flat landscape that is dominated by vertical straight buildings. To engage the city in a different way, FPT University appears as an undulating forested mountain growing out of the city of concrete and brick. This form creates more greenery than is destroyed, counteracting environmental stress and providing the city with a new icon for sustainability.

True to its eco-friendly building style, the firm envisages a viridescent landscape, whose length and breadth are covered with strategically-situated pockets of greenery. In addition to the centrally-located courtyard, the proposal makes provision for plant-filled walkways, balconies and even rooftop gardens. The number of floors gradually increase towards the corners of the building, creating a sort staggered contour that disrupts the city’s otherwise vertical skyline. The team elaborated:

Cities, especially in thriving countries like Vietnam, are growing at such a speed that infrastructure is unable to keep pace. Environmental stress is observable through frequent energy shortages, increased pollution, rising temperatures, and reduced greenery. Ho Chi Minh City illustrates these issues, having only 0.25 per cent of the entire city covered in greenery.

According to the architects, the abundance of greenery will help purify the air, making it cleaner and also cooler. This, coupled with the shade offered by the trees, will greatly reduce the need for air conditioning. Furthermore, the building’s central courtyard can be used by students for meetings, lunching and other events. The firm added:

The combination of green devices creates a connection to nature that can be felt anywhere in the building. FPT University has been designed towards a harmony between humans and nature. The building will aid the recovery of greenery that once flourished in this land and foster a new generation of thinkers.