As Infrastructure Lags Behind, Saigon's Poorest Hardest Hit by Worsening Flooding
In April 2023, in the first downpour of southern Vietnam’s rainy season, the narrow rented room where Mã Thị Diệp and her children were staying in Hồ Chí Minh City was inundated by knee-high water.
Khôi Phạm in Environment
What I Talk About When I Talk About Vietnam's Penguin Trashcans
Compared to the average Vietnamese, I might be thinking about trashcans a smidgen too much — not just any trashcan, but the infamous penguin-shaped trashcans that are ubiquitous at every corner of our public spaces.
Linh Phạm in Parks & Rec
House Dance Hanoi Teaches You How to Free the Body
I stood on the top floor of a building on Khâm Thiên Street, feeling grateful for the cold air. I came out here to take a break from the other side of the floor, which was divided into three rooms — three dance studios.
Inside Saigon's Grassroots Carton and Aluminum Recycling Plants
With plastics claiming many of the headlines worldwide and constituting a major issue in Vietnam, scant attention is being paid to other recyclable materials, namely cardboard and aluminum.
How Táo Xanh Forum Created a Safe Space for Gay Vietnamese Before Social Media
Before Vietnamese could hop on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share our hot takes of the week, there was an era of past cybersphere when online forums were the crucial online space to connect local netizens.
Paul Christiansen in Environment
As Climate Change Threatens, Flood Waters Usher In Sustainable Opportunities for Communities in the Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is developing faster than Google Maps can keep up with. A stretch of road that was too narrow to accommodate cars and required a transition to motorbikes just six months ago was under construction during our August visit. Gargantuan machines for laying pulverized gravel inched aside to let our 7-seater pass so we could reach the home of Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy to check in on her small fish drying home business.
Khôi Phạm in Natural Selection
10 Species of Lesser-Known Fruits to Get to Know Vietnam's Biodiversity
In the Vietnamese language, the word “cỏ” — meaning “grass” in the literal sense — is often used to signify that something is locally grown, no frills, and charmingly rustic; grassroots, if you will. Chó cỏ is the general term for the adorable mutts, usually mixes between Vietnam’s native dog species, born without the prestige of named breeds, while gym cỏ and net cỏ denote the casual gyms and internet cafes in one’s neighborhood. In the same vein of logic, may I put forth a new name for a special genre of Vietnamese fruits: trái cỏ?
How Vietnamese Architecture Adopted Modernism and Made It Our Own
Ask a person on the street what Vietnam’s distinctive style of architecture is, and the answer you get might be traditional architecture, like the historic curves of northern Vietnam’s village temples or the ornate regality of Nguyễn-Dynasty palaces. This time-honored style is widely accepted as the hallmark of Vietnam’s cultural wealth. What’s more fascinating but lesser-known is how this cultural vestige — which distinguished our architecture from that of China and Japan — has also managed to evolve in the new age, finding ways to exist right in the middle of our modern lifetime.
New Website Uses Travelers To Deliver Items To Those Aboard
A new website, Bringers.co, offers to make deliverymen (and women) out of people traveling abroad.
Future Saigon: Saigon Green Energy Tower
Another ambitious project for Saigon’s Võ Văn Kiệt Street is in the works with plans for a 53-story (for reference, the Bitexco Tower is 68 stories) mega project.
2 Bicyclists Set To Ride From Saigon To Paris To Raise Awareness Of Climate Change
On Thursday February 12, Simon Nelson and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will set off on a bicycle ride from Saigon to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) in order t...
Vietnamese School Wins Top Award At International Architecture Competition
Vo Trong Nghia had added to its list of international accolades, taking home top honors for its Farming Kindergarten in the recent Archdaily “Building of the Year” awards.
[Video] Alibaba Tests Drone Delivery Service In China
Chinese online retail giant, Alibaba, has taken a page out of Amazon’s playbook, launching a three-day drone delivery pilot program.
Vietnam Hopes To Launch 4G LTE This Year
As public WIFI spreads across Vietnam’s streets, cities and transportation networks, plans are in the works to upgrade the country’s mobile internet to 4G LTE status.
22 Photos That Reveal How Bad Pollution Has Become In China
While pollution is becoming a serious problem in Vietnam with reports of cancer villages and toxic canals popping up the press recently, we live in a natural utopia compared with the residents of Chin...
Vietnam’s First Nuclear Power Plant Faces Another Setback
Due to slowing economic growth and safety concerns, the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear reactor has been delayed yet again.
Saigon Ranked 6th Most Dynamic City In Recent Report
Saigon ranked 6th in a report released last month that graded 120 cities across the world based on real estate and socioeconomic factors.
Construction Has Begun On The US$200m Thu Thiem Bridge 2
At a ceremony yesterday afternoon, authorities formally kicked-off construction of the Thủ Thiêm 2 Bridge which will stretch across the Saigon River from Tôn Đức Thắng Street to the Thủ Thiêm peninsul...
4 Vietnamese Projects Finalists for ArchDaily’s Building of the Year Awards
Four buildings from Vietnamese "starchitecture" firm, Vo Trong Nghia, have been named finalists for Archdaily’s “Building of the Year” Awards.
Most Machinery Used In Vietnamese Businesses Dates Back To The 1960s-70s
Although Vietnam has been attracting plenty of high-tech industry recently, with companies like Samsung and Intel building large factories in the country, most local enterprises are sma...
New Restaurant Brings Hanoi’s Street Life And Trees Indoors
Hanoi’s Cheering Beer Club/Restaurant, designed by H&P Architects, aims to blur the boundary between inside and out by creating a dialogue between contemporary architecture and the surrounding env...
China Just 3D-Printed an Entire Mansion
Luxury LegoLand just got real. Chinese construction company, Winsun, revealed their largest 3D printed houses produced to date earlier this month in the eastern city of Suzhou, reports TechinAsia...
Rooftop Aquaponic Systems Bring Sustainable Urban Farming To Saigon
District 12 farmer, Nguyễn Ngọc Khuyến, has adopted a brilliant system to make urban farming more accessible to those with limited spaces.
HCMC Pledges To Speed Up Construction Of Metro Lines
At a news conference on Monday, the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board said that it was speeding up construction on metro routes 1, 2 and 5.
Prime Minister Approves Plan For Phu Quoc Casino
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved plans for an entertainment complex along with a casino to be built in the southern island of Phú Quốc.
New Mega Development in the Works for Hanoi’s West Lake
Hanoi is gearing up for a new mega development that will house 24,300 people and stretch across three districts.
Tim Doling in Development
Design Competition For Saigon's New Administrative Building Kicks Off
Over the weekend, Hồ Chí Minh City residents were given the opportunity to view 11 shortlisted designs for the new City People's Committee Administration Building and to vote for the scheme they felt ...
Saigon Xưa: Breaking Down The Architecture Of Old Saigon
Lê Hưng Trọng, creator of the upcoming illustration book about the architectural aesthetics of old Saigon, “Saigon Xưa”, talked to us about the varying styles of houses across the city.
