Vo Trong Nghia attempts to return greenery to Vietnam’s choking cities and design affordable homes for poor communities.
Award-winning architect Vo Trong Nghia is on a mission to transform Vietnam’s attitudes towards architecture and urban spaces through his environmentally sustainable buildings.
“Population explosion is a big problem in all Asian countries, especially when these countries have a tropical climate. But these countries don’t have the knowledge to create architecture that suits their climate,” he says.
As Vietnam makes a mad dash for growth and development, Nghia is defending the need for open spaces, trying to bring scatterings of greenery to the concrete, glass and steel that dominate the cityscapes. His buildings incorporate plants and trees, and include design elements such as natural air flow ventilation in the place of costly and environmentally damaging air conditioning.
This film follows Nghia as he tries to find support for his vision to create a vertical farming city; and at the same time to implement low-cost housing solutions for those left behind by Vietnam’s economic boom.
“Green architecture helps people live harmoniously with nature and elevates human life by embracing the powers of the sun, wind and water into living space. If the current way of thinking does not change, sooner or later citizens will actually live in concrete jungles. For a modern architect, the most important mission is to bring green spaces back to the earth.”