LAVA + ASPECT Studios to design 16-hectare, central park in Ho Chi Minh City

LAVA, in partnership with ASPECT Studios, had the winning concept for a new 16-hectare, central park in Ho Chi Minh City. The scheme features gently elevated, curving pedestrian walkways, sunken gardens that form performance and play spaces, and artificial trees that provide shade and harvest water and energy. An underground shopping area links to the city's new Ben Thanh Metro Station.

For the next three years, LAVA’s Ho Chi Minh City office will oversee the design development of the project. The new park is currently scheduled to begin construction in 2020.

”The site has always been about transportation,” LAVA Director Chris Bosse said in a statement. “It was the first train station in Southeast Asia, it’s currently a bus terminal and in the near future it will be Vietnam’s first metro station. Our design references this history and future mobility. Known locally as ‘September 23 Park’ it also hosts the important annual spring festival.”

“Renouncing the formal, unfriendly grid, our design is informal, multi-use, friendly, connected and continuous,” Bosse adds. 

“The metaphoric ‘railway lines’ — a reference to the 19th-century railway tracks built by the French — remind visitors of the old urban fabric, provide directional paths, maximize the park's existing greenery, increase access to diverse functional areas, and articulate zones of activity. They end with a dramatically twisting steel sculpture that further memorializes the transport history,” LAVA describes. 

As visitors stroll along the walkways, they'll encounter sculpture gardens, outdoor art galleries, water features, music and theatre performance pavilions, a skate park, sport zones, playgrounds, forests, and waterfalls, together with commercial aspects.

The scheme includes a variety of artificial plants that will complement the existing landscape. Water purification trees will collect rainwater to be recycled and used for watering, drinking fountains, and fire hydrants.  Ventilation trees will reduce heat and help create fresh air, while solar trees will have angled solar panels to optimize radiation and store solar power, provide charging docks, WiFi routers, and informational screens.

Check out a video and project diagrams in the image gallery below.

Project credits:

LAVA: Chris Bosse, Tobias Wallisser, Alexander Rieck 

Design team: Dong Viet Ngoc Bao, Nguyen Xuan Man, Vu Ngoc Anh, Do Thi Duong Thi, Nguyen Phuc Anh Thu, Pham Duy Bao Long, Nguyen Truong Ngan, Cao Trung Nguyen, Trinh Tien Vinh, Le Thuy Ngan, Trinh Duc Tri, Bui Quang Khanh, Pham Thi Ngoc Hanh, Nguyen Le Yen Oanh, Nguyen Quang Minh Triet, Riccardo Allegri, Kylie Pan, Stefanie Sellan 

Design support team: Tran Minh Huy, Bui Khac Rin, Pham Thach Anh Quoc, Dinh Dang Khoa, Tran Minh Thanh, Tang Quan Kiet, Nguyen Quoc Doan, Tran Pham Bao Ngoc, Dang Hoang Minh 

ASPECT Studios: Stephen Buckle (Design Principal / Director) Sissy Chen, Jo Ren