Hanoi launches global designer competition to rejuvenate old buildings and public spaces
An initiative in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has kicked off with the aim to identify design solutions for the renovation of the city’s many dilapidated buildings and neglected public places.
To that end, Hanoi-based DRA Design and Construction Joint Stock Company with the help of sponsors from the infrastructure and building industry last month launched the “Phu Thuy Khong Gian” (“Space Wizard”) contest in order to find design “wizards” from around the world with ideas to renovate old apartment buildings and rundown urban areas in Hanoi, so that they are better adapted to modern living.
The contest seeks to find “unique, unexpected and creative ideas to revitalise and transform degraded living and public spaces at and around Hanoi’s old apartment buildings, helping them become fresher and livelier,” organisers of the contest, which is backed by the Urban Initiatives Hub of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, said.
The unique element of the contest is that participants do neither need to be designers nor architects nor urban planners. Instead, anybody older than seven years of age can partake and stand to win prizes worth a total of one billion Vietnamese dong ($43,000).
Both Vietnamese and foreigners are allowed to submit entries to the contest, either individually or in groups, the initiative says on its homepage, which is – unfortunately – so far only in Vietnamese language. Submissions opened on September 4 and will close on September 25, with results set to be announced on October 7. The award ceremony will be part of an exhibition and will take place from October 14 to 18.
Contestants must submit their renovation ideas for any living or public spaces of their choice, either in the form of hand drawings or digital files. The website gives them access to simple software to submit their 2D or 3D drawings, but will also accept hand drawings, sketches, photos or even descriptions, then provide technical support from Hanoi-based computer graphics company House3D to make 3D versions.
Hanoi has a growing gap between new expensive residential areas and the often dilapidated historic buildings of the Old Quarter and surrounding areas. There, people have to juggle the needs of modern life with strict planning regulations designed to preserve the architecture of the French colonial period.
The competition sets the challenge of respecting heritage while improving the quality of life for local people, including their “spiritual enrichment,” in the hope of encouraging them to take control of their own spaces and “make the city more beautiful and livable for everyone.”
Typical Hanoi neighbourhood around Huu Tiep Lake in central Ba Dinh district - the city has a lot of potential for urban rejuvenation © Arno Maierbrugger An initiative in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has kicked off with the aim to identify design solutions for the renovation of the city’s many dilapidated buildings and neglected public places. To that end, Hanoi-based DRA Design and Construction Joint Stock Company with the help of sponsors from the infrastructure and building industry last month launched the “Phu Thuy Khong Gian” (“Space Wizard”) contest in order to find design “wizards” from around the world with ideas...
An initiative in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has kicked off with the aim to identify design solutions for the renovation of the city’s many dilapidated buildings and neglected public places.
To that end, Hanoi-based DRA Design and Construction Joint Stock Company with the help of sponsors from the infrastructure and building industry last month launched the “Phu Thuy Khong Gian” (“Space Wizard”) contest in order to find design “wizards” from around the world with ideas to renovate old apartment buildings and rundown urban areas in Hanoi, so that they are better adapted to modern living.
The contest seeks to find “unique, unexpected and creative ideas to revitalise and transform degraded living and public spaces at and around Hanoi’s old apartment buildings, helping them become fresher and livelier,” organisers of the contest, which is backed by the Urban Initiatives Hub of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, said.
The unique element of the contest is that participants do neither need to be designers nor architects nor urban planners. Instead, anybody older than seven years of age can partake and stand to win prizes worth a total of one billion Vietnamese dong ($43,000).
Both Vietnamese and foreigners are allowed to submit entries to the contest, either individually or in groups, the initiative says on its homepage, which is – unfortunately – so far only in Vietnamese language. Submissions opened on September 4 and will close on September 25, with results set to be announced on October 7. The award ceremony will be part of an exhibition and will take place from October 14 to 18.
Contestants must submit their renovation ideas for any living or public spaces of their choice, either in the form of hand drawings or digital files. The website gives them access to simple software to submit their 2D or 3D drawings, but will also accept hand drawings, sketches, photos or even descriptions, then provide technical support from Hanoi-based computer graphics company House3D to make 3D versions.
Hanoi has a growing gap between new expensive residential areas and the often dilapidated historic buildings of the Old Quarter and surrounding areas. There, people have to juggle the needs of modern life with strict planning regulations designed to preserve the architecture of the French colonial period.
The competition sets the challenge of respecting heritage while improving the quality of life for local people, including their “spiritual enrichment,” in the hope of encouraging them to take control of their own spaces and “make the city more beautiful and livable for everyone.”
