Rejuvenating the street markets of Vietnam.

Vietnam after the second world war faced a series of battles lead by their leader Ho Chi Minh for decades. This was to free the country from Japan, and subsequently the French Colonization. Their freedom struggle from foreign colonization was successful in 1986. The country had been through turmoil for decades and was in a state of great disparity. After 1986, Economic and political reforms under Đổi Mới, launched in 1986 itself, transformed the country’s economic status for the following years.

The Fishing and seafood industry expanded dramatically after the reforms and its historical importance was evidently visible in the number of employees directly or indirectly involved with the industry.

The economic and population growth has fueled an increase in the consumption of fish in Vietnam. Subsequently, it raised the demand for an increase in production as well, ultimately leading to intensive methods of fish farming.

Amidst the struggle for mass production using synthetic farming and export, the local fishermen are perishing to make a living and sustain. 

The produce from aquaculture in Vietnam is much more than the local produce, and the competitive market demand has subdued the local vendors. Although traditional methods still prevail and attract tourists, the disparity in demand for naturally grown fish has denied them a modern infrastructure in urban areas. The street market culture is thriving in Vietnam, yet the infrastructure for the same has not been explored.

Brief: The challenge here is to design, an open seafood market infrastructure to house the local sellers and rejuvenate the street market culture through physical structures. It would also act as an avenue for tourists making it a part of the public space fabric.

The jury for the competition consisted of esteemed designers, professionals, and academicians from around the world. The Lead Jurors for the competitions were as follows: 

Jheny Nieto, Director, Niro arquitectura, Colombia

Gaetano Ceschia, Partner, Calvi Ceschia Viganò architetti associati, Italy

Robben Bai, Founder & Leading architect, RoarcRenew, China

Álvaro Pulido López Camino, Founder Architect, Ácrono Arquitectura, Spain

 

Some of the Best of competition projects as follows:

 

Winning Project: Thu Thiem Banks Market

By: Nicolas Eberle

Description: Street City Vietnam Rejuvenating the street markets of Vietnam.

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Runner Up: indigo poetry

By: Gaetan Croisille & Marine Szymczak

Description: What we buy here comes entirely from what surrounds us. The water garden is at the heart of the project as if it was a street. There is no distinction anymore between what we buy and where it comes from. The link is obvious.

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People’s Choice: Moving Through the Mangrove

By: Yuan Zhang, Yu Pei & Xue Gao

Description: An innovative and inclusive street market that integrates shopping, eating, and beyond; A landmark that attracts local and international visitors; A highly efficient operation that has a closed-loop. A lovely experience - like the one when you move through a mangrove in a canoe.

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Institutional Excellence: Forest City Market

By: Anna Rader

Description: Forest City Market celebrates the rich fishing history of Ho Chi Minh City by looking to its past as the thriving seaport of Prey Nokor, known as the "City Within a Forest." The market's lush, forest-like vegetation and bamboo details reminisce of an earlier time in HCMC.

 

Editor’s Choice: The Floating Spirit

By: 雅史 平井 & Cindy Djahnine

Description: We created The Floating Spirit as a place where people gather, meet, with the opportunity to have different activities. It is a fish market for sellers, with an adaptable system of the structure where shops can evolve through their needs.

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Editor’s Choice: Gentle Membrane

By: Kousei Yamashta

Description: It is a hub and "port" for fisheries, markets, food, and culture. It is also a large umbrella that watches over and nurtures the city's relationship with the river, a lively and primitive trade and food culture that has survived in the shadow of economic development.

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Editor’s Choice: Saigon Pacemaker

By: 功太 杉本

Description: We propose a new type of marketplace. It is an artificial ecological system based on mangrove-Shrimp Farming-Field. The marketplace will be a pacemaker of Saigon River, boosting the economic development in the river’s valley and the whole country, in a healthy, environment-friendly, and sustainable way.

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Editor’s Choice: FLOATING STREET

By: Nash Huo

Description: This is a water market, and fishing boats are the counters. The floating revetment is the street where the trading takes place. It is a light building, an interesting building with Bridges, pavilions, and revetments.

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Editor’s Choice: Bubble Markets

By: Raymond Hernandez, Gepo de Mesa & Gabriel Brioso

Description: The Bubble Markets is a re-envisioning of the local street market of Ho Chi Minh wherein it provides an urban porous bubble-like space to be a platform for the busy market culture of Vietnam which can accommodate all forms of social life.

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Organizer’s Choice: THE GREEN LINE MARKET

By: Alizee Delannoy

Description: The idea of the project is to build a large urban farm on the scale of the future Khu neighborhood đô thị King Bay in Thu Thiem. The concept consists of a large infrastructure combining the food market, aquaculture (fish, shrimp, seaweed), aquaponics, and market gardening. This infrastructure extends from Nhà thờ Thủ Thiem to the future bridge linking Thu Thiem.

 

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Discover the design brief here: 

https://uni.xyz/competitions/street-city-vietnam/info/about/ 

Discover the full results here: https://uni.xyz/competitions/street-city-vietnam/entries/    

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