Ole Scheeren's Empire City first step in Ho Chi Minh City
18/12/2017.
[Ho Chi Minh City] Vietnam
metalocus, ANDRÉS TERRAIN
metalocus, ANDRÉS TERRAIN
Description of project by Büro Ole Scheeren
Nature bursts into spiralling heights with Büro Ole Scheeren's landscaped high-rise ensemble for Vietnam's next generation
Empire City, a spectacular ensemble of high-rise towers and public spaces, marks Büro Ole Scheeren’s expansion into Vietnam. It is set to become a new focal point of Ho Chi Minh City, sculpting a symbiotic vision of nature and living within the space of the city.
Situated on a central peninsula of the Saigon River, the project will generate an integrative environment that fuses natural landscape with the rapidly growing metropolis. As a result, new qualities of urban living will emerge in this mixed-use environment of work, life, culture, entertainment and public enjoyment.
Three skyscrapers will soar above a mountain-shaped, garden-like podium, with the central Empire 88 Tower reaching a height of 333 meters. Its 88 floors will encompass residences, apartments, a hotel and a public observation deck. Breaking open the shaft of the tower and projecting vertical gardens at towering heights, the expressively undulating platforms of the “Sky Forest” will elevate the podium’s urban landscape into the sky. Hovering terraces will cantilever in manifold directions around the tower’s central axis, reaching out into the urban context and the peninsula’s natural surroundings as a gesture of reconciliation between the city and the countryside.
The “Sky Forest”, with its alluring interplay of interior and exterior, will create a magical journey through Vietnam’s tropical landscape. Densely populated with a variety of local plant species and water features, the multi-level experience will give breathtaking views across Ho Chi Minh City and the Saigon River, accessible to the tower’s residents and the public alike.
At the very top of the landmark tower, the “Cloud Space” will complete the vertical journey and stage a public arena with flexible possibilities for events and recreational activities, celebrating the glistening views of the bustling metropolis.
The podium will echo Vietnam’s mesmerizing landscape, with its poetic soft hills and cultivated terraced rice fields, and will anchor the tower ensemble to the ground.
A variety of layered, open spaces will engage the public in a multitude of experiences throughout this grand urban garden. An extensive network of public activities will be threaded throughout the modulated structure, connecting commercial areas with recreational environments. Custom-designed co-working spaces will be integrated into multiple floors of this terraced foundation and engage the collaborative spirit of Ho Chi Minh City’s vibrant startup culture.
In addition to the soaring landmark tower, two accompanying high-rises will comprise more traditional office typologies and residential spaces atop the landscape podium.
The project is developed by Empire City Limited Liability Company, a multi-national joint venture of prominent names in real estate development in Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong - Tien Phuoc Real Estate JSC, Keppel Land Ltd., Gaw Capital Partners and Tran Thai Lands Co., Ltd.
Empire City further demonstrates Büro Ole Scheeren’s ability to shape new visions for the future, aimed at improving our cities and the lives of its people. It joins the practice’s highly successful global portfolio of large-scale urban projects, after the completion of The Interlace in 2014 in Singapore, and the imminent completions of DUO in Singapore, MahaNakhon in Bangkok, and the Guardian Art Center in Beijing. Further ongoing work includes 1500 West Georgia, a residential high-rise in downtown Vancouver, and Riverpark Tower, the conversion of an office tower into high-end apartments in Frankfurt.
Ole Scheeren is a German architect and principal of Buro Ole Scheeren with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Berlin, and Bangkok. He is chief designer and leading the company’s creative vision and strategic development.
Ole Scheeren’s current work includes the Guardian Art Center, a new exhibition space and headquarters for China’s oldest art auction house currently under construction near the Forbidden City in Beijing; 1500 West Georgia, a residential high-rise in downtown Vancouver; DUO, a large-scale mixed-use urban development under construction in Singapore; MahaNakhon, at 314 meters Bangkok’s tallest tower housing the Ritz-Carlton Residences; Angkasa Raya, a 268 meter tall landmark building in the center of Kuala Lumpur; and a large-scale mixed-use urban development in Shenzhen, China.
Prior to launching Buro Ole Scheeren in 2010, Ole was Director and Partner along with Rem Koolhaas at OMA and responsible for the office’s work across Asia. As partner-in-charge of one of the largest buildings in the world, he successfully led the design and realization of the CCTV and TVCC Towers in Beijing. Other projects include The Interlace, a residential complex in Singapore (completed) and the Taipei Performing Arts Center in Taiwan (under construction). He also directed OMA’s work for Prada and completed the Prada Epicenters in New York and Los Angeles.
Through Studio Ole Scheeren, he is exploring his more personal interest in non-architectural projects and interventions, such as Archipelago Cinema, a floating auditorium in the Andaman Sea for the “Film on the Rocks” Festival in Yao Noi, Thailand, and subsequently installed at the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice. He also developed Mirage City Cinema, a cinema-architecture space commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation as part of the Sharjah Biennial 11 Film Programme.
Ole Scheeren has contributed to various arts and culture projects and exhibitions throughout his career, including triennials in Beijing and Milan, China Design Now in London, the exhibition Cities on the Move at London’s Hayward Gallery and in the city of Bangkok, Media City Seoul and the Rotterdam Film Festival. For the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) he designed two exhibitions in New York and Beijing featuring the CCTV project.
He regularly lectures at various international institutions and conferences, serves on juries for awards and competitions, and has been awarded numerous prizes, including the WAF 2015 World Building of the Year for The Interlace, the CTBUH 2013 Best Tall Building award for CCTV and the 2014 inaugural Urban Habitat Award for The Interlace.
Educated at the universities of Karlsruhe and Lausanne, Ole Scheeren graduated from the Architectural Association in London and was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal.