Organic Café

Density has always been a strong characteristic in the design problematic of Hanoi, historically horizontal condensation has been the phenomena and more recently a new vertical layer of construction has come to intensify the development of the capital. Contrasting the habitual trend of compacting built density, the Organic Café plays with architectural distinctions to propose a resilient microcosm within the urban context.

The site, in a particularly compact area of Northern Hanoi is composed by two lots, an existing seven storey tube house and a low-rise steel structure. The project finds its references within the principals of traditional shophouse typology which provided natural ventilation and lighting across a horizontal organisation and old-style urban fabric which was extremely dense and broken up by communal plazas. These principals are reinterpreted by G8A and VUUV through the manipulation of the built mass and use of vertical voids to provide natural ventilation, lighting and social and commercial space.

A light metallic structure is used to extend the surface area and maintain the sentiment of transparency. The game of spatial and material dissimilarities between “full” and “void” generates and promotes the idea of a self-sustainable system in a saturated area.

G8A Architecture & Urban Planning

Partners: VUUV Architecture & Interior Design