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A House in Quang Yen: Massive Roof Design Celebrates Vietnam’s Climate and Culture

By livingasean
May 12, 2023
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Quang Yen, Vietnam /

/ Story: Kor Lordkam / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hoang Le, Duc Ngo /

A big roof two-story house in Quang Yen is designed for a large family. Located in Quan Yen, a town in Quang Ninh Province in Vietnam’s Northeast, it’s a collaboration between two design studios, ra.atelier (Gia Thang Pham) and ngo + pasierbinski (Piotr Pasierbinski and Duc Ngo). They were tasked with preserving the existing landscape with a water pond and Tropical garden on it and, at the same time, catering to the lifestyle needs of the homeowners in post-retirement age. The result is a 121-square-meter home that observes the beautiful culture and Tropical climate of Vietnam.

Precisely that translated into maintaining the outdoor space in the state that was in existence at the time as much as they possibly could. This included the outdoor room for planting trees and a flower garden plus spaces for vegetable gardening and a flexible piece of ground for entertaining several houseguests and relatives.

The house is situated on 735 square meters of land (roughly 0.2 acres), shaped like an elongated rectangle with a narrow frontage to the street.

The face of the building stands facing south, overlooking a small semicircle body of water. Nearby a miniature mountain garden décor separates the front yard filled with flowers and bonsai from the backyard that’s reserved for vegetable gardening.

According to the architect, the new house was built exactly where the old house once stood. It’s set slightly toward the back so as to create more room for a veranda projecting in front of the building.

Illustration: Courtesy of ra.atelier and ngo + pasierbinski

The layout of the house is primarily related to its intended functions. In the big picture, the building has the approximate shape of a cube, the front part of which is reserved for general purposes such as giving lessons to kids in the neighborhood, a common activity for people in post-retirement age.

The back part of the house is quiet and a little more private, with room for a kitchen and bedrooms. Halfway in between lies an uncluttered center hallway made attractive by double-height ceiling design.

Climb a flight of stairs and you come to a more personal center hallway connecting to two bedrooms and an ancestral worship room. It’s a long-established custom in Vietnam to offer veneration to ancestors from whom the family is descended.

All of the above parts work together to form a coherent house plan that’s perfectly oriented to maximize all aspects of the surroundings. In terms of the aesthetic appeal, the water pond is the focal point of the front yard landscape.

There’s a sense of physical and spiritual relationship among all things. Arranged in a straight line, the miniature mountain décor and the pond can be seen through the round, compelling window of the worship room at the center of the house plan.

The water pond, as the architect puts it, represents the essential part of the original landscape that had long been there before the old house was torn down and replaced by a new one. In a nutshell, the main idea is to keep everything where it belongs.

Apart from a set of traditional beliefs and sociocultural values, other important factors are also taken into account in creating a design that best fits the natural surroundings and climate of the region.

This is manifested in visual continuity that extends from inside the worship room to the miniature mountain garden décor in the front yard. Plus, the open floor plan design allows natural daylight and fresh, clean air to enter and circulate inside the home. In essence, it’s a trinity of complementing factors – the water pond, the building, and the surrounding landscape.

The architect wraps it up nicely. “It’s a design based on the relationship between common spaces, worship room, and the landscape.” There is apparent continuity starting with the entryway that boasts the spaciousness of double height ceiling design all the way to the second floor of the house. This allows all usable spaces and functions to conveniently link up with one another.

Meanwhile, doors and windows are in the right proportion in relation to the size, shape and position resulting in well-ventilated interior living spaces that are not too bright, not too warm, not too dark or not too cold.

On the outside, the house overlooks the front yard with a water pond that lies to the south. It’s perfectly oriented to coincide with seasonal winds that carry atmospheric moisture into the home, thereby keeping it cool all year round.

At the same time, the extremely large roof covered in orange tiles shelters the home from severe weather and blends harmoniously with like-color roofs in the surroundings.

Overall, it’s a design well suited to the warm and humid climate of Vietnam. Although the roof is enormous by any standard, the interior is well-lit by natural daylight thanks to large perimeter windows and doors. The result is a breezy, visually stimulating environment for house occupants.

Finally, the interior living spaces are plain and uncluttered by design. In all parts of the house, white walls prove a perfect complement to the floors covered in gray color tiles. What makes the interior pleasing to the senses is the furniture, as well as windows and doorframes made of wood.

More importantly, it’s the ordinary interior that speaks volumes for the simple lifestyle characteristic of this area. That’s precisely the quality that gives this house a feeling of warmth, comfort and relaxation. Nothing describes the relationship and the atmosphere here better than the architect’s saying, “The house is an extension of the garden, and the garden is an extension of the house.”

Architect: ra.atelier (Gia Thang Pham) and ngo + pasierbinski (Duc Ngo, Piotr Pasierbinski)

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Urban Farming Office: VTN Architects’ Office Gives Back Lush Greenery

By livingasean
May 10, 2023
CULTURE,DESIGN

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Phattaraphon / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

The design studio of VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects) sits comfortably ensconced in a plant-covered six-story building in Ho Chi Minh City. The 1,300-square-meter office block is adorned with balconies containing lush green gardens that combine to create a vibrant building shell. It’s a design based on an understanding of the challenges facing big cities and the importance of environmental conservation.

Far and wide a lack of recreation areas and green spaces, coupled with rapidly worsening air pollution, is causing serious health problems for people in urban areas. It’s for this reason that living trees and shrubs are integrated into the ‘ building’s external envelope.

The result is a green office block that brings fresh air to the design. Here, easy-care trees cool the air, provide shade, and filter out dangerous, fine particulate matter. It transforms ideas into solutions as Vietnam, a developing country, joins a global network of advanced manufacturing hubs.

Precisely, it’s a design rooted in good environmental management practice that aims to minimize human impacts on surrounding ecosystems – a fact that’s easy to overlook when planning a building. Also known as the Urban Farming Office, it communicates a message that failure to do so will have unpredictable and often undesirable consequences.

The Urban Farming Office isn’t just home to a design studio. It’s also a perfect example of innovative companies driven by a desire to go green in the workplace.

Plus, it gives back healthy lush foliage and a breath of fresh air to the city. That’s not all though. It draws attention to many possibilities of vertical gardening – techniques to grow more in less space.

From the outside looking in, the building façade looks like a botanical laboratory lined with decorative concrete containers where trees and plants grow. They are mostly easy-to-care-for native plants that thrive in local ecosystems. Where appropriate, seasonal vegetables, herbs and spices are grown organically to meet family needs. It’s a way to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

And it’s safe, eco-friendly, and even energy efficient.

From a distance, thriving vegetation turns the bland building shell into a lushly planted living façade. Overall it’s a straightforward concrete construction with outdoor platforms attached to the side of the building.

These balconies are filled with modular concrete planters designed to be moved easily depending on the height and growth of trees. This ensures that each particular species gets sufficient amounts of sun to grow.

Combine biodiversity in the balcony and rooftop gardening with the surrounding landscape, and you get an expansive urban forest that amounts to 190 percent of the total project area. As the architect puts it, this translates into 1.1 tons of vegetation including native edible plants, vegetables, herbs and fruit trees carefully chosen as being the best and most suitable.

Also, it’s organic farming and the quality of being diverse that give the office building a cheerful and positive personality.

Walk past the front façade, and you come before an inviting first impression. The window, doorframe and exterior wall are glazed entirely with glass to protect interior rooms from the elements.

On the outside, lush green vegetation doubles as a building envelope that filters out harsh sunlight while allowing plenty of fresh, outdoor air to pass into the interior workspaces. Plant watering is done using rainwater stored in catch basins strategically placed around the building.

The irrigation method that sprays water droplets overhead with sprinklers also keeps the ambient temperature cool, thereby saving money on air conditioning costs.

On every level, the open floor plan boasts clean lines that make the interior workspace look more spacious and well-ventilated all day long. All told, it’s the ingenious double wall design that makes living a whole lot easier and less stressful.

To give a brief summary, green architecture isn’t the only feature that makes this office building stand out from the rest. Rather, it’s also the image of organizational culture that speaks volumes for the determination of the architects who live and work here.

VTN Architects have demonstrated that humans and the environment can coexist symbiotically. This is achievable by letting nature permeate and be a crucial part of the city and any office design. It’s the way forward in creating a more equitable, sustainable future.

Owner/Architect: VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects)

Hippo Farm Bioclimatic Dormitory; A Place to Reconnect with Nature

By livingasean
May 5, 2021
CULTURE,DESIGN

DONG NAI PROVINCE, VIETNAM / The Ho Chi Minh City-based design firm T3 ARCHITECTS has built a bioclimatic dormitory that’s part of a green classroom program in Vietnam. It’s made of locally sourced building materials, thereby reducing negative impacts on the climate and natural environment.

Aptly called “The Hippo Farm”, the 218-sq-m building is designed for students and families looking to just be surrounded by bountiful nature, gain experience with permaculture, go horseback riding, and learn more about sustainable construction.

Basically, it’s about getting involved in activities that reconnect with the true essence of education. Plus, it furthers the progress of team spirit and the opportunity for friends and family to share happy moments amid natural surroundings.

By design, the Hippo Farm is bioclimatic, a performance-based approach that pays particular attention to the relationship between living organisms and the weather conditions prevailing in an area.

To create a comfortable microclimate, T3 ARCHITECTS, or T3, first determined how the location and orientation of the site would affect the building’s energy profile. In so doing, the design team conducted a careful investigation of wind direction both during the dry season (to get the maximum benefits of natural air flow), and the rainy season (to protect the façade from water infiltration).

Next, they decided to elevate the building site above flood level by covering it with soil and debris from old horse stables that had fallen into disrepair and subsequently knocked down. This improvement in the landscape had beneficial effects on wildlife and provided the natural home for insects that are useful at the other end of the food chain.

Reusing existing materials is part of a frugal approach to do more with less. The new building has a simple steel structure tailor-made near the site. The walls are built of local bricks covered with lime plastering mixed with red sand occurring naturally in the area. Roof insulation is made of Vietnamese rice husk mixed with diatomaceous earth, which helps protect against insects.

Formed from hard materials including silica and lignin, rice husk is humidity resistant, which makes it a suitable building material for Tropical climate. Plus, it’s inexpensive and biodegradable. The doors and windows are crafted of solid wood indigenous to Vietnam combined with woven bamboo paneling. Both are easily obtained and able to build on a budget. They are water repellent and serve as engine that drives natural ventilation.

To save water, dry toilet systems are used. The toilet seat is made of OSB, a type of engineered wood, with a stainless steel toilet tank underneath and a lid designed for easy operation. Without using water in the toilet systems, waste matter can be added to soil to help build and improve the upper layer of earth in which plants grow. The sink or washbasin is controlled by a push button to teach kids about the importance of water conservation.

Handrails and pergolas are made of Melaleuca wood indigenous to southern Vietnam. It stands up extremely well to water. Solar powered water heaters are installed on the roof facing south where sunlight exposure is the highest. The surrounding landscape showcases the gorgeous range of native perennials that have evolved naturally in the region. They provide excellent shade for the building and require very low maintenance. All things considered, it’s a creative design that values frugality and simplicity emblematic of the Tropical countryside.

Design: T3 ARCHITECTS | http://www.t3architects.com
Lead Architects: Charles GALLAVARDIN, Tereza GALLAVARDIN and Rafael LIRA
Design Team: Ta Quang Hai (Architect) and Huy NGUYEN (Interior Designer)
Contractor: Harmonie
Story: T3 ARCHITECTS / Living ASEAN
Photo: Herve GOUBAND (ALISA Production) | http://alisa-production.com

303 House: A Narrow Townhome Inspired by Aircraft Interior

By livingasean
February 12, 2021
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /

/ Story: Nawapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Quang Tran /

An architectural practice called “Sawadeesign Studio” has applied innovative aircraft cabin ideas to give this narrow townhome a complete makeover. The small family home sits sandwiched between two low-rise buildings in the heart of Tan Binh, an urban district of Ho Chi Minh City. They named the project “303 House.”

Narrow townhomes are a typical housing type omnipresent throughout central Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. By law, places of residence with a narrow frontage to the street (smaller than 3 meters across, to be exact) are not permitted to have more than one level.

In this particular case, the only way to build is arrange all the usable spaces and functions on the same horizontal plane. And the result is a renovation done right in every sense of the word.

From the outside looking in, the entire width of the house is only 2.9 meters. With the exterior walls installed, the inside space comes to just 2.7 meters wide.

Interestingly enough, well-thought-out design turns an awkward narrow plot into a single-story home that’s simple with all useable spaces giving off good vibes. The bright and airy home occupies less than 90 square meters of land.

The design duo, Doan Si Nguyen and Vo Thanh Phat, decided against the most commonly used construction technique. They proposed an alternative method aimed at reducing the amount of concrete used, an option that risked being rejected by investors from the get-go.

For indoor thermal comfort, the ceilings are made of Rockwool tole about 150 mm thick. The coated sheet metal is widely used in the storage industry and large warehouses for its excellent thermal insulation. Here, it’s used to make the interior living spaces comfortable day and night.

The contemporary home interior features mixed materials. Among them, grey plaster on the wall proves a perfect complement to gray epoxy paint on the floor. Together, they provide desirable elements for a calm, peaceful home. Everywhere, furniture made of plywood is a great way to add natural touches to the interior.

As the architects put it, the secret to creating a healthy indoor environment lies in putting multiple layers of functional spaces in neat order to shield the home from the busy street outside. This is especially true in HCMC, where many homes are prone to suffer from the negative effects of outside noise and unrestricted growth of housing areas and commercial development.

Fascinatingly, aircraft cabin ideas came in handy for the townhome built on an extremely long and narrow plot of land. It’s reminiscent to walking along an aisle between rows of seats on an aircraft.

There’s a paved outdoor area in front of the house entrance that provides a place to socialize. Step inside, and you come into a corridor connecting to a living area, kitchen, and laundry room. Wall-mounted storage cabinets line one side of the aisle, with beautifully organized functional spaces on the other.

There are two bedrooms with a bathroom attached tucked away in a quiet place half way down, plus a third bedroom at the rear of the house accessible by a small corridor. Where appropriate, clear roofing materials provide light for houseplants, while openings in the rooftop drive air circulation keeping the interior cool and comfortable without air conditioning.

The house plan is not only tailored to the specific needs of a family of three, but it’s also a well-thought-out place of abode amid the hustle and bustle of the city.

As is often the case with most urban areas, for homeowners there’s a tendency to rent out the space in front of their houses to small retailers and businesses. But the family living at 303 House doesn’t need that kind of income. They prefer to keep the door closed and enjoy privacy in the comfort of their home. Albeit small, it’s an oasis of calm — a home sweet home no doubt.

Architect: Sawadeesign Studio (www.sawadeesign.net)

Lead Architects: Doan Si Nguyen and Vo Thanh Phat

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Termitary House: Good Sunshine, Fresh Air, and Brick Walls

By livingasean
September 19, 2019
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Da Nang, Vietnam /

/ Story: Patsiri Chotpongsun / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

The fact that the house is made of clay has enabled brick buildings to make deep connections with the natural world in so many ways. More importantly, the structures built of small rectangular blocks derived from nature are endowed with the power of storytelling that provides a window on vernacular culture, the environment, and the way of life native to a locality. These qualities are manifested in outstanding works of architecture, the likes of which are obvious at this house in Da Nang, Vietnam that uses brick walls as the main building element.

Good Sunshine, Fresh Air, and Plenty of Room to Breathe — The hall at the center of the house plan is spacious and well-lit, thanks to the skylight positioned directly above it. It has room for plenty of functions ranging from a sitting parlor to dining room to pantry. The natural light cycle interacts with the interior spaces, resulting in different color renditions as day goes by.

It all started with a family’s desire to renovate their home on a budget. A team of architects from the design firm Tropical Space soon came up with an idea inspired by termite mounds.

They knew that the small soft-bodied insects built their homes by cementing masses of earth with saliva. Amazingly, they are quite capable of withstanding hot and humid climates for long stretches of time.

For this reason, the architects designed the house walls to be built of bricks placed on top of each other with a break between blocks to create little ventilation holes that allow in light and drive natural air circulation.

Designed for tropical living, the 140-square-meter box-shaped house wrapped in perforate brick walls is going by the name “Termitary House.”

To protect from heat, the team of architects put in perfectly opaque walls on the sides exposed to intense sunlight.

Meantime, the sides with less exposure to bright light had small openings built into the walls to promote air circulation, resulting in thermal comfort in the interior living spaces year round.

The same applied to the brick house façade that’s its most outstanding feature. The vertical flat structure was made of bricks fired the old-fashion way and laid with air holes at intervals all the way across.

The result is a breathing wall that allows in just enough light and a fresh supply of air. The light and spacious atmosphere lends a modern air to the home designed to be free from dust in summer and safe from inclement weather during the monsoon season.

More importantly, it’s about privacy that comes with unique design.

Situated on a rectangular plot with narrow frontage, this box shaped house is enclosed by brick walls with ventilation holes built into them. They serve multiple functions as privacy screens, breathing walls, and means of admitting daylight into the interior.

It’s a house plan that prioritizes thermal comfort as well as functions. The staircase, storage room and bath are strategically placed on the east and west sides.

During daytime hours they double as a layer of insulation to keep sunlight heat out. The hall at the center is spacious and well-lit, thanks to the skylight positioned directly above it.

The area offers plenty of space for a sitting parlor, pantry and dining area as well as easy access to the bedroom, bathroom and small reading room on the mezzanine.

Open concept design paired with perforated room dividers contributes to visual continuity that enables family to stay connected, happy and warm even on a busy day.

A small corridor lies between the outer brick wall and the inner wall decorated with transparent glass. Glass walls maximize natural light while protecting the interior living spaces from rain.

Well thought-out design adds privacy to the bedroom on the mezzanine. Opaque walls paired with perforated brick walls and skylight in the ceiling add a new dimension to design. Meantime, glass paneling for the wall is installed to protect the room from dust and inclement weather.

Breathing walls offer several advantages. By design, countless small holes in them let a moderate amount of light shine through, increase air circulation, and reduce interior temperatures to a comfortable level.

Upfront, the vertical brick structure provides an awesome privacy screen that’s energy efficient and allows people inside to see out. Made from inexpensive local materials, it comes alive when good sunshine creates movement and a shadow play on the surface.

And the show goes on day and night, thanks to the form, color and texture that give the brick wall its character.

The house walls are built of bricks placed on top of each other with a break between blocks to create countless small holes that allow light and air to enter and circulate freely. The resulting perforate shell contributes to physical ease and well-being in the tropical style home.

The night is aglow under the beams of electric light shining through the perforate shell. It’s a phenomenon that conjures up the image of a beautiful lantern symbolic of a joyful celebration.

This story is an excerpt from Modern Vernacular Homes Special Issue: Happiness Matters. (Available here in Thai and English)

Architect: Tropical Space by Tran Thi Ngu Ngon and Nguyen Hai Long

10 Modern Tropical Homes for Inspiration

By livingasean
December 26, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

Living ASEAN presents 10 modern tropical homes for an inspiration as we celebrate another year ending and a new one beginning. They focus on a beautiful blend of indoor and outdoor spaces that translates into stylish patios, cool verandas and courtyard tropical gardens. Plus, plenty of ideas to make your yard lush!

PEACEFUL, SHADY NORTHEASTERN THAI HOUSE

MODERN HOUSE AMID A COUNTRY ATMOSPHERE

VIETNAM TRADITIONAL BRICK HOUSE

QUIET INTERACTION OF NATURE AND ARCHITECTURE

LOCAL THAI HOUSE IN A JAPANESE TRADITION

LOCAL, WITH A MODERN FLAVOR

A WHITE HOUSE MATCHING MODERN ARCHITECTURE TO ITS ENVIRONMENT

CANALSIDE “GARDEN HOUSE” FOR HAPPINESS

MODERN HOUSE WITH A THAI FLAVOR

SINGLE-STOREY HOUSE ON A FOUNDATION OF SIMPLICITY

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A House Under the Pines in Vietnam

By livingasean
August 29, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Hanoi, Vietnam /
/ Story: Sara’ / English version: Peter Montalbano / Photographs: Triệu Chiến /

This modern house under the pines is nestled in forested hills, surrounded by green grass and tree-studded scenery that provides privacy and accents its harmony with the natural setting.

This house was designed by a Vietnamese team from Idee Architects, whose priorities involved respecting the former environment instead of leveling the hill and responding to the simplicity of the owner’s lifestyle.

This they managed with an “open space” concept in a home full of modern conveniences that still stays close to nature, washed in the sunlight that streams in through the pine woods.

The house is built on two levels, the lower section holding a carport/garage and multipurpose room, and the upper level with a living room, kitchen, and four bedrooms set atop a piney hill with a magnificent view on three sides.

Interior colors are dominated by natural-looking mid-tone colors: whites, blacks, greys, and browns, conveying natural warmth and tranquility.

The “focus and flow” design creates points of interest with a play of straight, horizontal, and vertical lines laid against the curves of the drive.

Three-meter eaves project out from the house to offer increased protection from Vietnam’s heavy rain and bright sunlight.

The house is designed in the shape of a slightly unbalanced “T” with a “semi-outdoor” pathway reaching all around. Except for the outdoor shower belonging to the master bedroom, on good-weather days doors and windows on every side of the house can be opened to let the air flow through.

A corridor on the west side acts as heat insulation for the bedroom, an elegant simplicity in design that creates balance between static and dynamic elements in the house.

The bedroom’s spaciousness shows dynamism, with the static element expressed through its privacy and sense of peace and quiet.

The house is securely tucked away in greenery, as the building was actually designed to blend in with the trees that were already present.

The big grass lawn out in front of the living room and bedrooms provides a great playground for the kids without blocking the idyllic view from inside.

The house structure is made primarily of authentic materials like steel, brick, and glass, whose lightness makes for easier adjustments when encountering problems combining them in construction while helping reduce living expenses and minimize negative effects on the original land.

Future energy use is optimized with the wide roof’s facilitation of solar energy storage as well as through clean water and the cultivation of vegetables, all of which truly support a comfortable and relaxing lifestyle.

Architect: Idee Architects

Long An House: A Charming Brick House in Vietnam

By livingasean
March 18, 2018
HOUSE,LIVING

/ Long An, Vietnam /

/ Story: Nawapat, Nipapat Dusdul / English version: Bob Pitakwong /

/ Photographs: Hiroyuki Oki /

An attractive brick house in Vietnam’s Long An Province is the pride and joy of Tropical Space, a homegrown design studio specializing in mixing traditional Vietnamese brickwork with modern architectural styles.

Inspired by the beauty and durability of brick, Tropical Space recently built the innovatively designed home on 750 square meters of land.

The sloped roof house plan combines three separate living spaces into one modern home with strong architectural language.

The result is a beautiful blend of the traditional and the modern. There’s something that never changes. Brick is used here because it’s inherently a Vietnamese material used in building construction, and it’s indigenous to the area.

At the same time, with a deep understanding of Vietnamese culture and climate, the architects at Tropical Space are committed to the use of environment-friendly building practices and sustainable material selection.

The brick house in Long An is designed for a warm and humid climate. To maximize ventilation efficiency, the architects divide the sloped roof into two parts and put a courtyard in between them.

There are corridors connecting the two parts of the house. Meantime, perforated brick walls allow breezes to pass through and around the building.

Traditional Vietnamese design provides continuous functional spaces that stretch from the front to the back of the house. Boundaries between spaces are marked by the different quantity of light that varies from place to place.

It’s a brilliant layout that keeps the interior living spaces cool all year round without air conditioning.

The front yard floor is covered in brick pavers with holes capable of draining storm water fast and keeping ambient temperatures cool in summer. Next to the yard is a buffer space designed to create a beautifully transitional room from the yard to the living room, dining room and bedroom.

The kitchen is on the north side of the house plan along with other functions. It’s ideal for traditional Vietnamese cooking and offers very relaxing family rooms.

There are two bedrooms on the mezzanine with plenty of space for a quiet reading room and relaxation. The architects also put in stairs on both sides to easily connect with other areas inside and outside of the house.

This not only gives the children a play area, but also enables them to move around unhindered by solid walls.

Architect: Tropical Space

3 Apps to Check Air Pollution Levels

By livingasean
February 23, 2018
BUZZ,EXPLORE

Despite the omnipresence of the Internet in society today, there seems to be a disconnect between the impact of pollution and access to the information needed to protect public health. Strange as it may sound. According to a 2017 estimate by the environmental tech company Plume Labs, only 0.246% of the earth has access to that vital information.

/// ASEAN ///

As air pollution levels rise from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok to Yangon, and Phnom Penh to Jakarta, it’s wise to stay abreast of the latest developments. There are many websites and apps that measure the concentrations of both PM2.5 and PM10 and other pollutants. Here are three useful apps to check air quality wherever you are.

An example page of the Real-time AQI app.

An example of Real-time AQI’s advisory page showing air pollution values, concentrations of airborne particulates, and protective mask recommendations by Greenpeace.

– Air Quality: Real-time AQI App –

The Real-time AQI app for Android and iOS shows air quality information from more than 10,000 monitoring stations in over 60 countries, including mainland China, Korea, Japan and countries across Southeast Asia. It provides, among other things, data about the concentrations of smaller airborne pollutants (PM2.5) and larger particulates (PM10). The former refers to extremely small particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter or about 3% the diameter of human hair.

Updated hourly, the same information is linked to the developer website http://aqicn.org along with data on harmful gases and other readings such as temperatures, pressures, and humidity. The site also publishes visualized maps and protective mask recommendations from the global independent campaign organization Greenpeace. Get to know three types of masks to protect you from PM2.5 that ordinary surgical masks cannot. Whether it’s on the mobile app or the website, good infographics are worth a thousand words and a good place to start researching.

Plume Air Report provides air pollution levels in Yangon and Phnom Penh, which are not listed in the AQI app.

Flow, a portable instrument for checking air quality values and weather maps by Plume Air Report.

– Plume Air Report App –

Plume Air Report on the iPhone is a reporting and forecasting app that tracks real-time air pollution levels for every city in the world. The environmental tech company (website https://plumelabs.com) is the maker of “Flow,” a mobile personal air tracker that measures harmful pollutants indoors and outdoors. Real-time data including air quality indices, temperatures, UV levels, winds, and humidity are updated hourly along with pollution forecasts for the next 24 hours and statistics for the past 7 days. Flow makes it possible to track harmful air pollutants even in cities without AQI monitoring stations. The device is open for pre-order. Check the website for availability.

An example page of the AirVisual app showing unhealthy air pollution levels in cities across the globe. The information is updated hourly.

– Air Quality: AirVisual App –

AirVisual is a real-time and forecast air quality app that provides AQI indices for over 70 countries worldwide. Available on both Android and iOS, the free app gathers information from more than 9,000 locations via global networks of government monitoring stations and AirVisual’s own sensors. By giving historical, real-time, and forecast air pollution data, AirVisual is a pocket guide to avoiding harmful airborne particles. The AirVisual Earth Map is a good place to start tracking pollution levels and weather conditions with hourly updates.

In Southeast Asia, notably Bangkok, Chiangmai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Jakarta, thick haze of air pollution isn’t going away any time soon. As the fight for clean air continues, it pays to be in the know and avoid places with high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10. The mobile apps mentioned above are three of many technologies designed to get the message across in the interest of public health and safety.

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Air Quality around the ASEAN

By livingasean
February 15, 2018
BUZZ,EXPLORE

Air pollution is just one aspect of the wider environmental and health problems in major cities around the ASEAN. It’s a wake-up call among city dwellers from Bangkok to Jakarta to Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

PM2.5 Level, Hanoi and Jakarta, 14 February

The crux of the matter is the high concentrations of small airborne particles (known as PM2.5) that enter the body through the nose and mouth. They pose greater health risks than larger particles (known as PM10), which the body is capable of eliminating through coughing, sneezing, and swallowing.

Technically speaking, PM2.5 refers to particulate matters with a mass aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers. They are capable of traveling deep into the body causing anything from mild symptoms such as nose and throat irritation to more serious conditions like lung and heart problems, even lung cancer.

To get the information across to the public, a monitoring system was devised. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a number used to communicate how polluted the air is in real time, and how bad it is forecast to become. AQI readings above 150 are considered to have direct impacts on the health conditions of sensitive groups of people.

While industrial pollution left cities across China and India in the smog, countries in Southeast Asia have become alert to the man-made problem and begun taking action to reduce PM2.5 levels. Let’s hope that it’s not too late.

PM2.5 Level, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, 14 February

Highest PM10 Level, Saraburi in Thailand, 14 February

A few weeks into the new year 2018, it was a terrible shock to find thick haze of air pollution blanketing the entire landscape of Bangkok Metropolis. The spike in PM2.5 concentrations that cut down visibility and posed a threat to public health was blamed on a mix of humidity and seasonal inactivity in the air flow.

The same also happened to Chiangmai in the northern part of the country, and the haze hasn’t fully lifted. While local governments called on farmers not to burn their fields in preparation for the new planting season in Chiangmai, Bangkok authorities were looking for ways to free up traffic snarls and reduce air pollutants from industrial plants.

In Jakarta, where traffic jams were just as bad, the need to reduce air pollution has been a hot topic for quite some time. Jakarta’s problems stemmed from rapid increases in vehicular emissions in the city and industrial pollution in the northern part of the city. A recent study showed that over 60% of the population of the Indonesian capital were facing increased risks in respiratory and pulmonary disease.

Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City were no exception when it came to air pollution from vehicular emissions. Motorbikes remained the most popular means of transportation nationwide. The country with a population of 92 million had over 45 million registered motorcycles. A 2013 study showed that high PM2.5 levels were linked to about 40,000 deaths, equivalent in seriousness to a 5% economic loss.

Sources:

http://aqicn.org

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/176546/how-serious-is-air-pollution-in-vietnam-.html

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