Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha works with the Ministry of Construction and the Vietnam Association of Architects on social housing design - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Faced with difficulties in the coordination process between the Ministry of Construction and the Vietnam Association of Architects in organizing the social housing design competition, the Deputy Prime Minister requested clarification of the approach and role of each party and emphasized the need to have a systematic and comprehensive mindset for this particularly important type of housing.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized: Social housing is urban housing, an integral part of urban development. The construction of social housing must be placed in the overall urban development, closely linked to architecture, planning and technical standards.

The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated the proposal of the Association of Architects to hold a competition to design social housing models, but said that the implementation needs to be comprehensive from architectural ideas to technical designs, ensuring compliance with geological conditions and fire prevention and fighting standards, construction structure, and clear orientation on architecture, cultural identity, and regional characteristics.

Combining architecture – structure – engineering for standardization and replication

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said practical needs require typical designs recognized by competent authorities, thereby helping to shorten procedures and quickly implement social housing projects - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Architect Hoang Thuc Hao, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Architects, said that after the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to preside over and the Association of Architects to coordinate in organizing the social housing design competition, the Association established a team of experts, compiled the design tasks and built the competition regulations, taking into account all factors suitable for each region, with many different models for mountainous areas, plains, ethnic minority areas, and weak land areas...

Some of the goals of the competition are to establish a common structural framework for even development, avoiding fragmentation. From the general structure, each house model will show specific regional characteristics, both in terms of climate and culture, to ensure suitability with actual living conditions. Unify in terms of aesthetics, creating synchronization in architectural planning. Encourage the team of architects to combine with the team of structural and construction experts to choose the optimal technical solution for each specific geological condition.

The competition's topic is open, with local architects' associations proposing suitable designs, with the participation of experts in structure, stratigraphy, geology, and construction.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said practical needs require typical designs recognized by competent authorities, thereby helping to shorten procedures and quickly implement social housing projects.

At the meeting, many experts and businesses shared initiatives to improve the quality and effectiveness of the social housing program. Some opinions emphasized the need to organize a social housing design competition with two clear parts: The architectural part aims to orient the aesthetics and regional identity; The technical part aims to standardize typical designs, especially according to the area block from 25-77m².

Proposed technical solutions must be feasible, adaptable to diverse geological conditions, and should be presented in the form of a manual or information technology application to build a "smart home model lookup" system to support localities in easy access and application, in order to simplify the appraisal and licensing process for social housing construction.

The issuance of social housing models needs to be flexible, updated, and expand creative space for investors and architects, ensuring the quality of the project and the ability to replicate in practice.

Notably, some businesses claim to have successfully developed advanced foundation technology, reducing costs and are ready to transfer it free of charge to social housing programs.

Organize architectural design competitions at regional and city levels

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Construction and the Vietnam Association of Architects to coordinate in redefining the competition topic for designing feasible social housing models, avoiding expectations that exceed actual capacity - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the social housing design competition should not only stop at providing architectural ideas but also aim at visualizing the overall social housing in the city, ensuring identity, architecture, and safe structure. At the same time, it should shorten procedures and create favorable conditions for investors developing social housing to choose and implement correctly the process and legal regulations on architecture and construction, rectify and overcome the chaotic situation and uncontrolled urban development.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Construction and the Vietnam Association of Architects to coordinate in redefining the competition topic for designing feasible social housing models, avoiding expectations that exceed actual capacity.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, if the social housing design reaches 50-60% completion, it is possible to shorten the licensing process at the local level. With social housing models that have met the standards, only need to complete the technical steps and fire prevention and fighting, then the licensing time can be shortened to 1/3. However, we should not expect the design model to be used everywhere, for all types of constructions. Instead, it is necessary to define the social housing model as a system of technical and aesthetic recommendations, helping localities choose the one that is suitable for their planning, landscape, cultural identity, lifestyle and local terrain and geological characteristics.

The approach to social housing design cannot stop at each apartment. Each design needs to take into account the function, structure, price, materials and social institutions such as schools, hospitals, playgrounds, community activities... At the same time, there must be unity between social housing and general urban architecture.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the Association of Architects should organize competitions to shape architecture at the regional, city or specific area level. For example, the architectural design competition for regional and urban-rural development orientation aims to concretize the spirit of the Law on Architecture, thereby contributing to building regional architectural identity, ensuring harmony in planning.

Another direction is the housing design competition for remote areas, ethnic minority areas and areas affected by natural disasters such as floods and landslides. These models need to ensure simple technical factors, be suitable for local identity, and not require complicated licensing. This is also a way to guide sponsoring organizations when implementing housing construction for people in difficult areas.

The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that there should be a scientific competition, not just an artistic one, to develop a set of technical recommendations on foundations, geology, structures, and materials. The products are studies, figures, and surveys that help shorten appraisal and licensing procedures. This is a job for construction and engineering experts rather than architects. “If the technical regulations are too heavy, architects will not be able to do it. We must coordinate three houses: Architecture - structure - construction,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

According to baochinhphu.vn

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/xay-dung-giao-thong/thiet-ke-mau-nha-o-xa-hoi-phai-kha-thi-gop-phan-dinh-huong-kien-truc-giam-thu-tuc-hanh-chinh-156450.html