Hanoi's Tube House : Constricted Living

Khám phá Hanoi!

HANOI’S TUBE HOUSE Rethinking Solution for the Constricted Living Space Crisis 1

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Walkway

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Small Shop

Constricted Living ; Living condition wihtin modern tube-houses are constricted as space limitation within the Old Quarter forces the inhabitants to build higher to accomodate more living spaces. The tube-house are usually divided into several smaller living quarter where it is usually occupied with only beds and a seating spot due to the space constrain.

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Tube House : Rethinking Solution for the Constricted Living Space Crisis

by Nur Afizzat bin Ahmad Nasrul

Introduction Tube houses have become the most popular housing typology in urban areas in Vietnam. Due to limited land in urban areas, the main architectural form of urban housing within Hanoi is the tube house. Depending on the area of land, there is a variety of tube house typologies with different plan uses. The buildings have narrow frontages and an unusually extended depth of 70-80 m. These high-density, low-rise buildings were considered to be a comfortable domestic environment until the changes of government in Vietnam during the 20th century. Hanoi became such a high-density city (1,000 people per hectare} that many families began to live together within one unit and even to transform courtyards into actual rooms. As a result the standard of living deteriorated. These tube-houses are now more like a solid block, as spaces are fully occupied with living quarter as small as 9m2. Access to open air and communal spaces are also diminishing wihtin these quarters as demand for living space within the city center are increasing.

The traditional tube-houses are totally renovated, some could keep only the outer house and inside spaces were built higher, up to 3, 5 or even 7 floors. An approach is needed to solve the need for living space while still providing a neccesary quality wihtin the built environment.

1 Constricted Living Space; 2 Lost of Communal Space; Overpopulation within the tube houses forces Valuable inner yards are being replaced with living the inhabitant to adapt, creating a small and space, restricting the inhabitants access to a private tight living space. outdoor space.

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Traditional Arrangement of Tube-Houses ; Within the traditional tube houses, the living quarters are separated with inner yard that acts as a communal space as well as providing access to sunlight and ventilation throughout the building block.

Modern Tube-Houses ; Most of the modern tube houses has lost its inner yard as it is filled with plungedin block during the rapid modernisation in 1980s. This caused the lost of inner open spce for social and gatherings.

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Rise in Height ; New dwellings are introduced on top of existing buildings to accomodate more living spaces.

New New Void

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Rise in Width ; Gaps in-between the cluster are slowly being replaced

Increasing Demand, Limited Space The initial spatial composition of the tube house are disrupted with the additional renovation, adding height and filling the gaps wihtin the spaces. The micro-universal inner yards are removed in placed for additional living space. This apporach ultimately create a solid building block that removes the inhabitants access to social space and sunlight penetration.

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Micro-Clustering; The original tube houses is actually a cluster of units arranged in-between the inner yard. Adapting this concept allows the modern tube houses to cater for both issues; improving the constricted living space while providing access to inner yards. Clustering a variation of micro units and gathering spaces creates a small scaled neighbourhood within the tube-house while enhancing the social activity between inhabitants.

Micro-Clustering

Smaller Scale; Solid building blocks are needed to break up into a cluster of buildings.

Variability in scale; clustering of variation of spaces to allow porousity within the design

Clusterings; Micro units are clustered together to form a shared open environment.

Modules within Cluster

Micro Housing Unit; Affordable, adaptable unit for single inhabitants.

Single’s Unit; Increase space for singles and newly wed family.

Informal Gathering Space; An open outdoor spaces for gatherings and social activity

Small-Scale Retail; is provided within the frontage of the building to optimise space

Inner Yard ; Reintroduction of inner yards within the tube houses, allowing access to sunlight and ventilation.

Porous Composition ; of various modules will create a pockets of inner yards.

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Typology of Stackable Module

Family unit ; A 8mx3.5m sized family unit suitable for family of 2 adults and 2 kids

Initial Constricted Housing ; The initial housing space lacks porousity and communal spaces

Single’s unit ; A 4mx3.5m sized single’s unit suitable for 1 or 2 people

Single’s apartment and family unit

Inner Yard ; open space for greeneries and sunlight penetration Gatherings’ unit; A 4mx3.5m sized open space for neighbourhood gatherings positioned inbetween housing units

Retail unit; A 4mx3.5m sized small retail space for the tubehouse occupants to engage in business with the streets of Hanoi

Small-scale retail spaces for the inhabitant

Variability in scale Introduction of variation in scale within the housing units while also providing an improved housing condition is critical in improving the livelihood of the people in Hanoi. Stackable modules of 5 typologies of space are introduced, allowing for the tube-houses to be build faster while solving the housing crisis.

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Variation of Stack Unit Block

Breakdown of units ; Spaces are needed to be breakdown into smaller scale spaces

Porous building layout allows for ventilation

Stackable Micro-cluster Unit ; Variation of spaces are clustered together, creating a porous space provided with access to communal space

Stackable units allows for increase in capacity up to 10 units upwards

Sunlight penetration into the building space

Open Gathering and garden space within the building

Variety of living spaces units in shapes and sizes

Micro-clustered Tube-houses The traditional tube-house of Hanoi’s Old Quarter are now overpopulated and constricted, restricting the inhabitants access to communal spaces and sunlight penetration. This paper proposed a new solution, creating a modular units of different scales and functionality thats allows for expansion upwards and horizontally while providing the inhabitants a greater quality of living space. These 5 typologies of modules are stackable, and the variation of scales allows for porous building space that allows sunlight and wind penetration across the building.

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Micro-clustering the Tube Houses Hanoi’s Old Quarter was formed during the Ly Dynasty (1009 - 1225), acting as the center of trade along the Red River Delta in Hanoi. By the end of the 17th century, it has evolved into a bustling and beautiful shopping street with variation of goods and services as well as housing space for the inhabitants of Hanoi. During this development era. tube houses have become the most popular housing typology within the Old Quarter in Hanoi. Limited land space availibity and the initial tax laws haves pushed the traditional houses within Hanoi to have a narrow frontage while having an unusually extended depth of 70m-80m. The initial traditional tube-houses consist of a two-storey living quarters separated with a inner yard in-between the spaces. These houses usually have a retails spaces at the frontage of the building. The traditional layout of the tubehouses allows for sunlight penetration as well as providing communal space for gatherings and greeneries. These high-density, low-rise buildings were considered to be a comfortable domestic environment until the changes of government in Vietnam during the 20th century.

Vietnam has seen a rapid development starting from 1986 onwards, as the country opening up its market to the global businesses. This has resulted in rapid urbanisation in the urban areas of the country uncluding Hanoi’s Old Quarter. In the last 10 years alone, Hanoi has seen rapid increase in migration as the city seeing a population growth of 3.35% annually (Thao, Dewancker, 2017). These mass migration has resulted in increase in housing needs within the capital city itself. Rapid urbanisation has pushed the limits of the Hanoi traditional houses as precious land spaces within the Old Quarter are pushed to be utilised as living space. Traditional tube-houses are renovated to accomodate more living space, where additional living space are builld higher. Inner yards which traditionally filled with greeneries and communal space are replaced with smaller living quarters. Hanoi has become such a high-density city (1,000 people per hectare) that many families started to live together within one unit housing. These tube houses are now more like a solid block, as open spaces are occupied with living quarter as small as 9m2. Access to open air and communal spaces are also diminished, as people are forced to live wihtin these constricted spaces to cater for the ever-increasing demand for living space within the city center. The rise in height and width of the building due to rapid urbanisation has slowly stripped away the inhabitants of quality living space.

Reflecting back to the traditional arrangement of the tube-houses, the living quarters are clustered in-between a small open inner yard that provided communal space as well as space for greeneries. Modern approach needed based on this concept that allows for expandibility while also providing neccessary quality of space towards the inhabitants. Micro-clustering approach are needed, where the initial solid block of the modern tube-houses needed to be broken down into smaller cluster of spaces. Next, a variability of scales of spaces needed to be reintroduced to encourages variation in functionality of spaces and housing sizes instead of monotonous living quarters. This can be done using a pre-designed modular units with variation of design and functionality, as well as stackable to allows for expansion upwards. Lastly, the breaksown spaces and variation of spaces are clustered into a porous building design. These clustering of variation of spaces allows inhabitants access to social communal spaces, greeneries, sunlight penetration and wind penetration into the building spaces as seen in Stack Unit Diagram earlier.

In this proposal, 5 typologies of stackable modules in introduced; Family Unit, Single’s Unit, Inner Yard Space, Social Gatherings Unit and Retails Unit. These 5 typology of units can be stack upwards of 10 units (33m in height). The different typology of housing spaces also can cater for both single working inhabitants or small family living wihtin the Old Quarter.

The micro-clustering approach hopes to solve the increasing housing crisis happening within the Old Quarter itself. Stackable housing unit design allows for ease of renovation as well as catering for the inhabitants need of access to a community connection and urban eco space within the tube-house itself.

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