white tower pierces through the gable roof of silkworm house in vietnam

Mar 20, 2024

Silkworm House is a rural residential project located in Lam Ha district, Lam Dong province, Vietnam‘s Central Highlands. Lam Ha is a mountainous region established around thirty years ago by northern farmers migrating to create an economic zone in accordance with government policies. These farmers introduce northern village culture to the highlands, cultivating mulberry and silkworms, resulting in a unique flow of interference and cultural transformation. The Silkworm House project’s initiators, a family spanning two generations, reflect this cultural evolution. With backgrounds shaped by different periods in Vietnam’s history, the design aims to fuse contemporary architectural elements with each occupant’s living needs.

The project comprises two modest blocks on the plateau’s gentle slope. These elements facilitate connections and provide a sense of space and balance. The horizontal block draws from traditional Vietnamese five-room house architecture, integrated into contemporary design language. Functional areas are arranged to gradually transition from public to private, moving from outdoors to indoors and front to back.

all images courtesy of Nhà Cao Cửa Rộng

The main public spaces as the living room, dining room, and kitchen create a communal core for family interaction. The intimate pair of compartments serve as the parents’ retreat. Ancillary spaces like the lobby, auxiliary kitchen, storage, and restroom are thoughtfully integrated, and connected through the central circulation axis. Patios, tiled roofs, and rows of windows extend along the entire block, forming a transition zone that mitigates climate effects while offering garden and valley views.

The design team opts for vertically aligned bedrooms, prioritizing privacy and forming an architectural composition that ascends upwards and forwards. Each room enjoys views of the surrounding greenery. Within the house, the layout shapes voids that are transformed into defining interior features as furniture pieces crafted from local pine wood and bamboo stems adorn the interior.

the Silkworm House project reflects the region’s cultural evolution

the design aims to fuse contemporary architectural elements with each occupant’s living needs

the project comprises two modest blocks on the plateau’s gentle slope

the volumetric distribution provides a sense of space and balance