Architecture Portfolio | Selected works 2017-2023 | Mai Dang

DANG KHANH NGOC MAI

I am looking forward to opportunities of accumulating higher knowledge about solving problems in urban life, through the abilities of not only aspects of architecture and landscape design, but also the hidden sides of human life. Rather than focus on my current strenghts in architecture, eager to join every tasks to discover more in the fields and cultivate my capacities. Email: dangmaikts@gmail.com

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ACADEMIC PROJECTS

MEMORIAL STORIES TELLER

CULTURAL EXCHANGE AND EXHIBITION CENTER OF SAIGON - HO CHI MINH CITY

Type: Academic project

Level: Graduation project (Semester 10)

Type of working: Individual

Location: Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Date: March 2021 - August 2021

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) plays the role of the cultural and economic center of Vietnam. This is the land used to be the swamps interlaced with rivers, lakes and canals more than a thousand years ago. It began to flourish more than 300 years ago when there were footprints of Vietnamese people going to the South to settle down.

During the French colonial period, Saigon was known as “the Pearl of the Extreme Orient”, a glorious past of the riverside metropolis. This was also the reason why people from all over the world gathered at this city to work and live, so that over 300 years, a unique and diverse culture has been formed. This culture is urgently preserved and developed but it is a great difficulty to objectively view and analyze it.

So, let the very children of Saigon, who have come here, for a day or a lifetime, tell us their impressions of this city for themselves, because Saigon in the eyes of 9 million people are 9 million different Saigons.

From culture to architectural spaces and users

Space illustration

French Colonial era Republic of Vietnam era Post-Vietnam war 21st century era Post-Vietnam war era exhibition Before 1975 period exhibition

Talkshow Exchange Pottery making Shoes making Lantern making

Video presenting Traditional theater Hologram

With a rich culture and history, currently the number of places achieving information of the city is not commensurate with the city’s size.

The visitors who come to these places to study and learn are mostly foreign visitors. In the eyes of local people, many works are not attractive enough for travelling destinations.

The design needs to have a unique form and organize richer and more novel activities to increase attraction

Using the Saigon River as the axis, recreate the shape of this area on the construction site as a mirror image of the old canals.

Landscape water lines created from this shape on the site will be the main ideas for the design inspiration as well as being used to organize the space.

The location of the roads used to be major canals in Saig`on in the early 19th century forming an area with clear lines and shape

Concept developing progress

Overall design developing progress

Selected design

Space characteristics

Main Hall Main Exhibition

Main Hall

Main Exhibition Workshop

Workshop Library Library Simulation zone

Simulation zone Auditorium

Auditorium Cafeteria

Cafeteria

Sightseeing Administration

Sightseeing

Administration Technical zone

Technical zone

Short-termed exhibition

Workshop Street style simulation Library Auditorium Cafeteria Administration Technical zone

French Colonial era

Republic of Vietnam era

After 1975 period 21st century

1st FLOOR

2nd FLOOR

Layering

ILLUSTRATION

DETAILED ELEVATION OF 1000mm-THICK WALL

DETAILED SECTION OF COVER WALL

Typical

Typical detailed plan of frame and composite panels joint

DETAILED SECTION A-A

The iconic architecture saving a part of memories on the other side of Saigon river

JOURNEY OF THE STONES

HUNG KING TEMPLE

Type: Academic project

Level: Architectural Foundation studio project (Semester 2)

Type of working: Individual

Location: Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Date: March 2017 - May 2017

One of the most prominent indigenous worship beliefs in Vietnam is the tradition of worshiping Hung King, the king who founded the Van Lang country, the first country in Vietnam, more than 4000 years ago. From the main temple complex located in Phu Tho province, the North of Vietnam, there are thousands of large and small temples in the whole country. With many diverse forms, the temple of Hung King is always a unique spiritual highlight in each area it appears.

Axises and symmetry

Symmetry and ascension

Building

Interior

The question...?

Located in th center of Tao Dan park, district 1, Hung King temple here at first, is the smaller verson of Hung King Temple in Phu Tho. However, the question is, what exactly is the temple? Is there neccesary to build a temple with a form merely duplicated from the original verson?

In my opinions, the most important factor while people step in a temple is the feeling that place gives them. Respectation, reveerness, honor... those feelings can be experienced in not only the traditional architecture, but also a modern form.

Ho Chi Minh city is a young and energetic city, therefore, a temple with a modern form can easier actract people, whom almost lost interesting in visiting temple while they live in a busy city.

The project uses big-size stones to arrange and build the space obeying the basic form: rectangular. This form allow us to make a modern space but still keep graveness for the temple. By using stones arranged disjointedly, light can be used as a emphasized tool, with is unlackable in traditional temple.

SITE PLAN

SECTION A-A’

SECTION B-B’

Spaces imagination

Form can disappear among the time, but the space belonged to reveerness will live forever

DIALOGUE

VENICE BIENNALE’S MEDIA HOUSE

Type: Academic project

Level: Architectural design studio project (Laurea Magistrale 1st semester)

Type of working: Groupwork

Location: The Giardini, Venice, Italy

Date: September 2023 - Jannuary 2024

Located in the Biennale Garden of Venice—a small-scale auditorium that not only acts as a connective tissue between the Biennale and the public space, but also addresses a vital function currently absent ; a performance space. There is a research on a strategic placement of the auditorium, creating dynamic axes that seamlessly integrate the structure into the existing landscape. Here, the building plays a role in making different spaces communicate: Venice visitors, both from the Biennale or outside are welcome to gather in this multi-functional space. To create a connection, the shape of the building follows a main axis, where the entrances are placed, creating symmetry within this elliptical auditorium.

Throughout the project, we explore the concept of gradual integration, starting with the outdoor performance space, serving as a prelude to the main event. From the initial outdoor experience to the entrance and, finally, the heart of the auditorium— each transition acting as a deliberate and immersive step. To further more emphasize communication, different settings for the main space are made possible by kinetic stairs for sitting, allowing the users to fully experience the diversity of the building. From full audience auditorium to exhibition space with projections, this media building creates opportunities for people to interact in many different ways.

A dialogue is then created, not only for the people coming in and out of the Biennale, also between the artists and visitors and between the Biennale campus and the public space. This space becomes a hub for communal gatherings. It facilitate interaction between artists, visitors, and the surrounding public space, it contribute to the overall experience of the Biennale and even enhance its cultural significance.

General plan 1:500

Cross urban section 1:500

Ground floor plan 1:100

A-A section 1:100

Side elevation 1:100

First flloor plan 1:100

Front elevation 1:100

WORKSHOPS - COMPETITIONS

PREI NOKOR 4.0

SAIGON RIVERSIDE RENOVATION

Type: Academic project

Level: Workshop project (Semester 7)

Type of working: Group work

‘Location: Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Date: September 2019

Prei Nokor: /definition/ The first name of Saigon, which means “city in the jungle”.

Saigon - Ho Chi Minh city was borned as a thinly populated riverside swamp, then the value of Saigon river was exploited and this land gradually developed. The name “A pearl of the Extreme Orient” has attached to Saigon river and the riverbank for hundreds years. In anytime, preserving and developing Sai Gon riverbank and surroundings landscape is a economic and cultural concern of all the city.

is Nguyen Hue? What is Charner canal?

Nguyen Hue street in 2018

Potential research factor

High traffic density and speed

Nguyen Hue street in the past (1867)

Connecting dots Road network

Nguyen Hue street at present

Nguyen Hue street after renovating

Nguyen Hue pedestrian street is the largest pedestrian street in Ho Chi Minh City. However, its existing design increases a large concrete area, with a limited amount of tree cover. This significantly affects the frequency of space use of this place, especially in the context of the hot and humid tropical climate that requires shade and high density of trees. A special thing is that this neighborhood about 100 years ago used to be a large man-made canal called the Charner canal. This is the canal that plays an important role in the transportation of goods as well as the trade of the contemporaries.

What

Charner canal in 1870s

What if we bring the canal image back once again?

An idea to start a combination between walking landscape and water element.

Pedestrian bridge ideas

The connections between the bridge and buildings alongside

Different spaces of riverside park zone

From the initial sketches...

Current and potential activities

The ring-shaped bridge

The canal-bringing back zone

The pedestrian bridge

The riverside park

JOYFUL TERRACE

CANALSIDE GREEN PARK

Type: Academic project

Level: Workshop project (Post-graduate)

Type of working: Individual

Location: Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Date: January 2022

Vietnam is a country with a long coastline, and Ho Chi Minh City is one of the ten Asian cities most affected by sea level rise. Urban flooding in Ho Chi Minh City is getting worse day by day, especially in areas with low-lying terrain and many canals. In addition, the lack of public space in residential areas is also a hot problem that needs to be improved.

Urban flooding data in Ho Chi Minh city Site location

URBAN FLOODING

Residents

Local daily activities

The population has lived for a long time (few new immigrants). Most are middle-class working people with common hobbies of leisure activitities

A small residential area surrouding a natural lake

General principles in solving problems

The urban structure is always ready to switch to flood adaptation mechanisms

Considering floods as a resource for urban ecosystems

Establishing flood storage space based on ecological infrastructure to adapt to flood dynamics

Disseminating flood behavior and raising awareness of living with floods to the public

Site analysis

Conclusion of the site study

General strategy

Achieving and reuse rainwater

Vegetable garden absorbing water

Solution

Playground surface with wood and grass brick

Greenery absorbing water

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL 10x6 METER MODULES

Preserving the status of mangrove palms on site Resettling the mangrove palms Applying designed modules on site with an appropriate planning layout 1. 2. 3.

Water surface

Mangrove palms (vernacular plant)

Street area affected by flooding

Residential area affected by flooding

Congestion point due to flowing trash and high density of mangrove palms

SITE PLAN

The site with normal tide level

The site with water surface height increasing 0.6 meter

The site with water surface height increasing 1 meter

A system of modules creates for the canal bank a soft-absorbing boundary

CIRCUIT

PRE-TRADITIONAL FESTIVAL PAVILION

Type: Competition project

Level: Built

Type of working: Groupwork

Location: Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Date: December 2017

The topic of Pre-Traditional Festival’s Competition 2017 in UAH is “An exhibition space” with dimensions 3x3x2.5m. Beyond the typical imagination about a space full of photos, the team started the idea with “multi”. A place that has multiple ways to approach, multiple ways to travel inside, will give people whom visit it has different experiences.

Using a rectangular frames, combining with pieces of semi-translucent fabric, TRANSFORMING is a space that once people step into it, they will have many different sight of view about the space of this university. The scenes never change, but the way each one see it is unique, because different people have different routes in CIRCUIT.

Different entrances

Different routes

PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS

STEPS INTO FIELD LAND

PAGODA’S ECOLOGICAL PARK

Type: Professional project

Level: Conceptual stage

Type of working: Individual

Location: Hoa Binh province, Vietnam

Date: May 2022

Tien Pagoda in Lac Thuy district, Hoa Binh province is a famous spiritual tourist destination, together with the Huong pagoda còmplex and Tam Chuc pagoda forming a famous Buddhist triangle in the Northern region. However, the present Tien Pagoda still lacks a unique and worthy landscape, which is an indispensable element in Vietnamese communal houses.

The existing field area between the temple and the main road is selected to perform a landscape design

Site analysis

Natural greenery and water surface

Current paddle fields

Current

Local worship places

Current and proposed festival route

The land is located in an area surrounded by mountains covered with green trees and charming clear lagoons.

Most of the area in the area is fields, gardens of local people and scattered with simple houses.

Preserving the paddle field landscape

The field is a gathering place for many species of birds flying to feed and live, mostly storks, and also a place to raise poultry such as ducks.

Preserving the birds living habitat

In the local area, there are scattered temples worshiping indigenous gods such as the temple of Dam Da Great Mother, the national mother of Vietnam, Opposite the site is the Buddha Legend park project in the process of planning.

Every year, Tien Pagoda holds a big festival, procession and parade from temple of Dam Da Great Mother to Tien Pagoda. Currently, according to the new design, it is proposed to add a procession route directly from Buddha Legend Park, across the site to Tien Pagoda.

Considering the new festival route in the site

planning idea inspired from an iconic image of Buddhism the structure of banyan tree’s leaf

Design elements

Imaginating sections

Greenery

Water surface

Walking path on water

Lakeside walking path

New festival route

Attraction spots

A

ZONING PLAN

SITE PLAN

Square Walking path on water

Lakeside walking path

Lotus view zone

Worship zone

Create the wetland

And lead visitors into a natural world