Description

The area set aside for the new House of Parliament and Convention Centre is located in the north of Hanoi, inside the quarter of the government offices and foreign embassies, along the grand boulevard that runs along the park in which the museum and mausoleum dedicated to Ho Chi Min are to be found. The assembly of “pure” structures and forms is the composition syntax used.

The complex, despite being set up on strongly unitary layout, unites two distinct edifices with courtyards connected by a raised square and by a mirror of water in the green area.

These two connecting elements play a key role in inserting the project in the surrounding historical and urban context, thanks to the axial references to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Min and to the monument to the Unknown Soldier.  These are also the two elements that define the building’s relations with the outside, the borders of the public and semi-public spaces and the hierarchies of the entrances, connected to each other at various levels.

The two buildings face one another, one square shaped and the other in the form of a circle, opening up internally to form a grand courtyard that features the imposing structure of the convention centre, and another building for the reception of authorities.

The buildings, whose highest point is determined by the 24 meters of the mausoleum of Ho Chi Min, are separated from one another, leaving an external view of the courtyard and raised square.

In this way the two distinct structures are exalted and it is furthermore possible to build them in two successive phases, as required by the competition.

(Ermanno Ranzani)