Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A tower rises out of Ho Chi Minh City, hovering between the hurly-burly of the city and the punctuations of a nascent skyline. Separate from the city below, the tower nonetheless contains an urbanism that echoes Ho Chi Minh City. A building in the city, this is also a city in a building.

A single line of structure appears on each floor, yielding a dramatically free space and permitting innumerable tenant configurations: one per floor, many on a single floor, several floors for a single tenant. Open plans, meeting rooms, common spaces, and terraces flow within these free plans. The structurally innovative trusses alternate from side to side on each level, each one holding a floor as well as the floor above.

A system of linking volumes connects the floors of the building. These links are filled with stairs, openings, and collective spaces. The building’s edges hold terraces, special function rooms, and views out to the horizon. The links and terraces constitute a series of spatial “clips” that tether floors and tenants together, fostering a vibrant interplay of people and architecture.
Cantilevered terraces punctuate the building’s façade in the same way that Ho Chi Minh City’s new towers punctuate the skyline. A rooftop terrace creates a plinth for special events, for tenants as well as the city at large.

A building city. A city building.