Minaka

Minaka was built on a typical urban lot in Vietnam which is narrow and small and one open side. This house is a living space of a 6 members family. With great demand of use, the vertical expansion of usable space is inevitable. The important issue to solve is getting light for a tall and narrow “tube”. Besides, Interaction with urban spaces is also something we care about.

Thus, we tried to get sunlight from the top through a “funnel” in the middle of the house. Stairs were arranged non-coaxial in order to regulate the light going down to the space below and reduce sense of height. We also did this with the front side. The upper blocks recede gradually compared to the lower block. This makes the building more comfortable with street space for a 5-storey narrow house. Red rough bricks create friendliness and highlight the green color of plants.