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Our and my own experiments
"My own" experiments:
By "my own", I mean my little family as a young architect. You're probably wondering what an architect's house would look like. Some may think it's "extraordinarily creative", or even "very different"; some may say it must be "fancy and extravagant". In fact, we had to upgrade our ruined house for some reasons. Otherwise, we're likely to do what are expected of us: work and live an OK life, then earn enough money to build our "dream house". However, the journey was a blessing in disguise. We are getting closer to our "dream house" faster and more economically than we had anticipated after plenty of ups and downs.
During the historic 2016 flooding in Ho Chi Minh City, it was raining more and more heavily as the night came. To my shock, I came home to "a pool" which we had to vigorously fetch the water out of. We were given a little push to our "dream house" project after the water level gradually went up to the point where the three of us had to sleep on the sofa waiting for tomorrow to come so we could clean up the mess. After thorough consideration, we came to an agreement of rebuilding the house.
We wouldn't have made this far if it hadn't been for the next push by Mr. Gioi, our mentor architect. He happened to know what we were doing and he insisted that we went all in or nothing. With his determiniation and inital guidance, we were driven to build the house of our dream with a humble budget at the time. This is where many of our experiments came into reality. We, a young and driven couple with great enthusiasm to create, would like to share with you what we actually intended to do and what actually came along in this article below in order that you, the readers, will gain more insight into little houses in Saigon from another perspective.

Experiment no.1: Sunshine, wind and lighting
After one year living in KM House, we had opportunity to observe and understand better how the sunshine and wind are directed throughout the year. Generally speaking, architects use modelling softwares to work better on the microclimate of the project. Yet, my husband did it entirely by experience and intuition when creating reasonable holes for wind and light to come in. Still, all these solutions weren't the best. In fact, I had to cover all those holes with see-through plastic panels as the rain could easily pass through. Nevertheless, inserting a space between the plastic roofing sheets and the steel frame indeed made the ventilation somehow more efficient. On fairly sunny days, I felt much airier in this architecture compared to my previous stuffy and suffocating rental houses. On the other hand, letting the wind in means letting the dust in as well, which is another draw back that I already came to realize and accepted.

Experiment no.2: Kids in the house, does that mean "fencing" all over the place?
KM House got a little attic where the three of us sleep. To keep our original idea, I did some thinking and decided to experiment an empty stairs railing to have an unobstructed view from every angle. Almost everyone was afraid upon noticing the empty railing; in fact, they also reminded us of when we used to be somewhat like them for our energetic little boy. We came to the realization that the empty railing had made him more aware of his interactions with the architecture. I don't recommend you do the same thing if it gives you distress or anxiety. Nonetheless, it was our great experiment that contradicts what we're predominantly concerned about. And only by going against it, can we gain upexpected outcome. In my opinion, taking risks is what we should do every once in a while if they are managable.
Experiment no.3: Why not try anything except wooden materials?
In order to balance our tight budget, we had to look for reasonably-priced yet sustainable building materials. First things first, we had to plan beforehand that, in the worst scenario, the uplifted floor would still be flooded. In that case, we had to cement not just the floor but also the whole ground-floor including the toilet with protective gloss coating. The thought of wooden or brick flooring was instantly out of the picture. On my first day at Km House, I literally sprayed the whole house with water. We did the plastic flooring for our attic which blended perfectly with the color of the railing and furniture. Plus, it doesn't rust away like iron. Perfect symphony! In addition, chain link fence was utilized, the ceiling panels were made by industrial wood waste. All these little experiments have given us great experience for our consultancy later on. One more thing, wooden furniture like wardrobes are likely to be damaged when exposed to water in case of flooding. Another thing is wooden material is more likely to be worn out if heavily used, especially with kids around, not to mention that it's more expensive than other materials. Additionally, I'm practicing minimalism lifestyle, wardrobes with drawers is my thing now. I enjoy folding and categorizing our clothes. Therefore, the steel filing cabinet with many drawers by Hoa Phat crossed my mind. Its color also blended with the whole picture. Steel material is my husband's favorite because of the lightness it brings to the space; moreover, we knew someone who is an expert. When I told him about the cabinet, he nodded with contentment.

Experiment no. 4: Indoor plants, why not give it a try?
In this architecture, there were plenty triangles where we planted a starfruit tree, and a few plants that prefer shade like Peace Lily and Ferns. After quite some time, we found taking care of those plants somewhat struggling. Reasons could be us having too little time, the space being too small, us forcing ourselves too much. Consequently, the starfruit tree ended up dead after one year. The experiment wasn't a success. This made me realize that indoor plants would help bring nature to the space; however, it isn't an entirely natural envinroment for a plant to grow. So, don't fake it unless you know everything about taking care of the plants yourself.
Experiment no.5: An unexpected experiment.
When designing the place, my husband only concerned about practical issues such as: cost per unit, lighting, ventilation, water resistance... but not the other effects that the architecture may bring along. In fact, every morning I was thrilled to prepare breakfast for my family and noticed the sunlight casting its shadows on the cement floor through the tiny squares of the chain link fence. It created a special impression, a sense of coziness and tranquility like cooking in a countryside kitchen. Its simplicity was made by the light casting down on the floor and reflecting upon the grey walls. No matter what, I am still fascinated to be in the house during those times.
"Our" house
My little family spent two wonderful years in the house. Then we welcomed our cousins coming all the way here from our hometown for college and work. In 2019, we started our architecture studio and began working from home. The house was then turned into an office, from a private house to a co-working space where our upcoming experiments are definitely happen both in our life and in our career. We hope to expand our "little family" where we not only do what we love but also grow as a community to support each other.
It's common to rent a spacious place which is easily accessible and can showcase how great your works are. For some reasons, we decided not to. My husband used to spent 2 hours commuting back and forth for 6 years in this crazy traffic in Saigon. Arriving home exhausted from the bustling streets, we realized that we had wasted a tremendous amount of time which should have been spent on taking care of ourselves and family. When we quit everything to start Km, we put our health and peace of mind ahead of anything else. Having not enough money to rent an office, we made some amendments to our house and turned it in to a working place but still kept its original philosophy: A home-like office. My husband and I didn't want to commute so we rented a place which is a walking distance. Hence, it wouldn't be too much multifunctional, we could divide it into distant functioning areas: sleeping area, working area which would possibly be a parking space or even a cafeteria.
Km office has been a community house with a lot of peaceful energy and hopefully will be a place that bonds the community. This is grounded in our core values of integrity, loving kindness, togetherness, unrestricted creativity. I was truly blessed to have my life partner, my co-worker, my husband back me up when I had my health issues. It also made realize life isn't always stable at all, it's just that we are trying everything to make it seem like so. We buy our houses, have our babies, make some investments and hope it's going to be okay. In fact, it isn't what we think it is. It's a way of life. At KM, we choose to overcome those instabilities by keep moving forward and to go after fulfilment all along the way. If you are still interested in our victories and also defeats, you can learn more here.
Author: Hien Vo - Translation: Hao Quach
Location | Binh Thanh, HCM City, Viet Nam |
Building Type | Row house |
Area | 98.81 m2 |
Architects | Nguyen Dinh Gioi - Tran Minh Phuoc |
Year | 2017 |