In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the amount of available greenery has diminished. While the landscape was originally lush with tropical forests, it’s currently experiencing rapid urbanization, as are other cities in the country. There’s an overabundance of motorbikes that cause traffic congestion and serious air pollution problems. To help combat this issue is House for Trees designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects. Intended to return green space to the city, these building concepts feature big trees on their roofs. The structure is thought of as a “pot,” or a vessel for the vegetation to grow. Thick soil layers will function as storm-water basins for detention and retention. This means that they will help reduce the risk of flooding in the city, in addition to providing benefits like cleaner air. And, depending on how the trees are positioned, they can create a tranquil space for residents to escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life. (source).

“Stacked” is a photo series that features the compact urban architecture of Hong Kong. Standing from below, Australia-based photographer Peter Stewart points his camera upwards to capture the abstract shapes which form the densely populated public housing structures. The stacked, repetitive architecture dominates the sky in its vertical journey and, although the buildings have evidence of life within, the images lack any human presence as the photographer focuses mainly on the urban environment alone. Stewart says, “My passion stems from travel and the desire to visit and document all the amazing places the world has to offer. My goal is simply to create images that make you go ‘wow.'” (source).

The Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition is the first open, international architectural competition to be organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. This initiative reflects the Guggenheim’s long history of engagement with architecture and design and its belief that outstanding original design can speak across cultures, refreshing and enlivening the urban environment. The reserved site is located in the Eteläsatama, or South Harbor area, an urban space of great national and cultural significance, close to the historic city center and immediately visible to visitors arriving by sea. From the Stage One entries, the jury has selected six proposals to advance to Stage Two of the competition. They will be asked to expand on their Stage One design and produce a master plan model. (source).

Beijing architecture studio MAD has designed an artificial island with an art museum set in caves in its three dune-like forms. Set in a reservoir on Pingtan island in China’s Fujian province, the Pingtan Art Museum will be the largest private museum in Asia, displaying a collection of over a thousand Chinese artworks and objects.  The museum itself acts as a smaller scale island off the Pingtan Island itself, connected to land only by a slightly undulating pier, which, in turn, bridges artificial and natural, city and culture, as well as history and future. The museum represents a long-lasting earthscape in water and is a symbol of the island in ancient times. The sea, the beach, the oasis and the slope all interconnect with each other, forming a harmonious capacious space with the mountains in the distance. The building is constructed with concrete that is blended with local sand shells. The indoor space, formed by the rise and fall of the formal movements, looks similar to ancient caves. (source).

World-renowned architect Zaha Hadid has unveiled designs for the new Sleuk Rith Institute, a leading center for genocide studies in Asia to be located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Hadid, typically known for her flowing concrete buildings, envisions a unique aesthetic for the institute in the form of five wooden structures that interweave and link together as they rise upwards. The five buildings will house spaces for different functions, which will be connected at various levels throughout the structure, allowing for interaction and collaboration underneath a complex, interlocked structure inspired by the architecture of Angkor Wat and other ancient sites. (source).