Green beginnings for kids in Dong Nai Province

June 11, 2016 - 09:00

Children of factory workers in in Biên Hòa City have a wonderful place to play.

It is a nursery school that has a vegetable garden where they also learn about growing food.

The nursery school’s building even has a vegetable garden on its roof.

This keeps the building cool.

Farming Kindergarten educates 500 children of low-income factory workers. — Photo courtesy of Võ Trọng Nghĩa Company
Viet Nam News

 

Children of factory workers in in Biên Hòa City have a wonderful place to play.

It is a nursery school that has a vegetable garden where they also learn about growing food.

The nursery school’s building even has a vegetable garden on its roof.

This keeps the building cool.

HÀ NỘI — Farming Kindergarten, designed by Võ Trọng Nghĩa Architecture Company, has been listed as one of the top 30 architectural designs in terms of aesthetics.

The building was nominated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Located in Biên Hòa City in the southern province of Đồng Nai, Farming Kindergarten educates 500 children of low-income factory workers employed at an adjacent shoe factory owned by the Pou Chen Corporation, which makes footwear for the likes of Nike, Adidas and Reebok.

The project was designed by architects Võ Trọng Nghĩa, Trần Thị Hằng, Kuniko Onishi, Takashi Niwa and Masaaki Iwamoto. The two-storey building was built with a fixed budget of some US$500 per sq.m., including all equipment and material, and is characterised by a triple-ring green roof that encloses three secure playgrounds.

The green roof serves as an additional playground and also as a vegetable garden for the kids to learn how to grow food. The building is passively-cooled and features a rainwater recycling and irrigation system.

“We studied the sustainable model of kindergartens in several tropical countries to design this one for Vietnamese children,” Nghĩa said.

“After just one year of operation, this building has saved 25 per cent of energy in comparison with other kindergartens with similar capacity.”

The kindergarten is the only facility built for children in the list. The others on the list include the Culture House Rozet in Netherlands, the European Hansemuseum in Germany, the Fine Arts Museum of Asturias in Spain, and the Public Library of Constitucion in Chile. More than 20 countries are represented on the list. 

The selected architecture projects vary in size, cost, and style – each structure displays architectural innovation and excellence. The projects include a wide range -- large urban infrastructure schemes, private residential projects, cultural destinations and civic spaces, as well as academic buildings and places of worship.

Entries were submitted from 50 countries, out of which six finalists will be visited. The winner of the first RIBA International Prize will be announced in December.

Setting a new global standard for architectural achievement, the prize will be judged by an expert panel led by world-renowned architect, Richard Rogers.

“The winning building will demonstrate visionary, innovative thinking and excellence of execution, whilst making a distinct contribution to its users and to its physical context. Unlike any previous RIBA award for architecture, the RIBA International Prize is open to any qualified architect in the world,” RIBA President Jane Duncan said. — VNS

 

 

 

GLOSSARY

Farming Kindergarten, designed by Võ Trọng Nghĩa Architecture Company, has been listed as one of the top 30 architectural designs in terms of aesthetics.

Architectural means to do with the art of designing buildings.

Aesthetics means caring about something looking beautiful.

The building was nominated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

To be nominated means to have your name put forward to be considered for something worthwhile.

Located in Biên Hòa City in the southern province of Đồng Nai, Farming Kindergarten educates 500 children of low-income factory workers employed at an adjacent shoe factory owned by the Pou Chen Corporation, which makes footwear for the likes of Nike, Adidas and Reebok.

People who are low-income earners do not earn much money.

To be employed means to have a job, working for a company or for another person.

Adjacent means “next to” or “neighbouring”.

The two-storey building was built with a fixed budget of some US$500 per sq.m., including all equipment and material, and is characterised by a triple-ring green roof that encloses three secure playgrounds.

A two-storey building is one with two levels.

A fixed budget is an amount of money that has been set aside for a particular purpose that does not change.

A green roof is an environmentally-friendly roof, with things growing on it.

The building is passively-cooled and features a rainwater recycling and irrigation system.

If a building is passively cooled it is made to have a lower temperature using quiet ways, such as having more plant cover than mechanical ways, such as using noisy air conditioning machines.

Recycling means giving something a second use.

Irrigation means spraying water on plants to help them grow.

“We studied the sustainable model of kindergartens in several tropical countries to design this one for Vietnamese children,” Nghĩa said.

sustainable model means a way of working something so that it can keep going.

Tropical countries are those that are in warm climates.

The selected architecture projects vary in size, cost, and style – each structure displays architectural innovation and excellence.

Vary means range. In other words, the different projects are many different sizes, costs and styles.

Innovation means the bringing in of new ideas to change the way things are done.

 The projects include a wide range -- large urban infrastructure schemes, private residential projects, cultural destinations and civic spaces, as well as academic buildings and places of worship.

Infrastructure is made up of things that make a place work. Urban infrastructure is made of things that make cities work, such as their airports, roads, telephone systems, railway lines and so on.

Residential means to do with areas in which people live and have their homes.

Civic means to do with a city’s administration.

Academic means to do with education.

Entries were submitted from 50 countries, out of which six finalists will be visited.

To submit entries means to hand in entries.

Finalists are the entries in a competition that are considered the best and will be judged to find out the winner.

“The winning building will demonstrate visionary, innovative thinking and excellence of execution, whilst making a distinct contribution to its users and to its physical context.

Visionary is thinking wisely about the future.

Excellence of execution means doing something perfectly.

WORKSHEET
State whether the following sentences are true, or false:

1.      The Culture House Rozet in Netherlands, the European Hansemuseum in Germany, the Fine Arts Museum of Asturias in Spain, and the Public Library of Constitucion in Chile are all built for children.

2.      Adidas is one of the shoe brands made by factory workers whose children attend the Farming Kindergarten.

3.      Richard Rogers is a person who designs buildings.

4.      Viet Nam is a tropical country.

5.      The winner of the first RIBA International Prize will be announced in the last month of this year.


ANSWERS:

© Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. False; 2. True; 3. True; 4. True; 5. True.

 

 

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