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The Mekong Delta is part of the broader ecosystem of the Mekong River Basin, which flows through five countries before reaching Vietnam. In the Delta, the tidal ecology affects farmers' agricultural output and daily activities. The way cultural production is embedded in the site ecology becomes the design focus of the project, which questions how new developments can respect and encourage cultural practices without overpowering how local communities have already adapted to an amphibious way of living.
The project proposes a series of cultural spaces in the upper stream of the Delta, a library, a pier, and a travelling theatre. The buildings are built on stilts, while the theatre is a floating structure that will move down the river to expand the cultural infrastructure. Instead of land extractive practices, the project creates new islands for vegetation. The travelling theatre is a public space for villagers to come together and learn through storytelling. The transient structure ensures that more communities can leave traces in the building, while the movement of the theatre becomes a manifestation of the interconnected waterscape of the Mekong River.
Through the vast canal network, the river ecosystem extends towards the use of agricultural lands and therefore to the life of the local community.
With the movement of the water, different activities take place over time. As the theatre moves away to a new site the building becomes a performer of the land, the people, and the river.
The building is a woven landscape of living and dead bamboo canopies. The use of vegetation in the theatre allows the structure to constantly grow and adapt.
The space hopes to frame daily activities in a new perspective. Local cultural practices become an integral part of the structure and circulation, while the theatre is a new space on the river for festivals and rituals.
The final plan aims to become an extension of the land and waterscape. The building elements are floating islands of vegetation that give back to the Delta ecology. Existing structures and boats can connect to the floating grass fields.