Architectural Cases

H&P Architects have unveiled the Ashui Pavilion in Hanoi, a captivating structure that redefines the city's relationship with its aquatic environment. This design stands as a testament to integrating natural elements with contemporary architecture, providing a serene space that gently floats on the water's edge. The pavilion's innovative construction and material choices reflect a deep understanding of local heritage and environmental concerns, offering a fresh perspective on urban design.

The Ashui Pavilion: A Harmonious Blend of Tradition and Innovation in Hanoi

In April 2026, the architectural firm H&P Architects completed the Ashui Pavilion, a striking timber-and-tile structure positioned gracefully beside a lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. This distinctive pavilion aims to re-engage the bustling city with its often-overlooked waterways. Over many decades, Hanoi's natural landscape, once abundant with lakes and canals, has progressively yielded to urban development and paved surfaces.

Responding directly to this transformation, the Ashui Pavilion places water at the core of its experiential design. Partially submerged in a shallow basin, the structure seamlessly meets the water's surface, creating captivating reflections that visually double its presence and extend its geometric form into the surrounding environment. The pavilion's design features a hemispherical volume, meticulously crafted from closely spaced ribs that originate from a circular base and ascend in a continuous arc. This unique shell-like form offers a delicate balance between openness and enclosure.

From a distance, the pavilion presents itself as a complete dome, a harmonious silhouette against the Hanoi skyline. Upon closer inspection, the deliberate gaps between the structural elements allow for the free passage of air, light, and movement, creating a dynamic and permeable space. Each rib of the pavilion is adorned with small, golden glazed tiles, a modular choice that introduces a subtle texture to the overall form. The color of these tiles shifts beautifully with the changing daylight, adding to the pavilion's enchanting allure. The repetitive arrangement of these units imbues the structure with a consistent rhythm, where its essence is perceived through the cumulative effect of its individual components.

The choice of tiles is deeply rooted in Vietnamese architectural tradition, specifically referencing bamboo joints—a common and culturally significant element in local construction. This material association links the pavilion's physical form to a broader ecological narrative, subtly advocating for a renewed focus on natural systems within the urban fabric. Sunlight filters through the spaces between the ribs, casting intricate patterns of light and shadow that dance across the blue platform beneath. As the sun traverses the sky, these shadowy bands shift and evolve, continuously transforming the interior ambiance. The pavilion remains intentionally open to its surroundings, offering expansive views across the tranquil water and into the verdant adjacent park, further strengthening its connection to nature.

This project is a thoughtful intervention that addresses the historical loss of water surfaces in Hanoi, proposing a beautiful and functional solution that encourages city dwellers to reconnect with their natural heritage.

The Ashui Pavilion stands as a powerful reminder of how architectural design can not only reclaim but also celebrate the natural elements within an urban setting. It prompts us to consider the long-term impact of urbanization on natural landscapes and challenges designers to integrate ecological consciousness into every project. Furthermore, its innovative use of traditional materials and reflective surfaces inspires a deeper appreciation for the interplay between light, water, and built form, enriching the human experience and fostering a sense of harmony with the environment.

Nature's Imprint, Art's Expression: The Journey of Coastal Stones into Design

The Genesis of "Numerous Difference": From Shoreline to Studio

The foundation of Wenbin Li's innovative project, "Numerous Difference," originates from a carefully curated collection of one hundred stones. These stones were gathered methodically along a specific coastline, ensuring their natural order and position were meticulously documented. This initial step underscores a deep respect for the untouched forms of nature, setting the stage for their artistic transformation.

Crafting Visual Identities: The Art of Hand-Traced Silhouettes

Upon returning to the studio, each collected stone underwent a precise process of hand-tracing. This meticulous act captured the unique silhouette of every individual stone, resulting in a series of one hundred distinct outlines. These organic shapes then became the fundamental building blocks for a versatile graphic system, demonstrating how natural contours can inspire and inform visual design.

Diverse Applications: Breathing Life into Stone Forms

The derived stone silhouettes found expression across a variety of mediums. From striking posters and thoughtfully designed packaging to a large-scale billboard and practical tote bags, the graphic system showcased its adaptability. Each application presented a unique visual interpretation of the natural forms, utilizing different treatments such as solid blocks of color, stippled textures, intricate contour lines, and subtle gradient shadings to highlight their individual characteristics.

Systematic Integration: Unifying Natural Elements with Design Principles

A key aspect of this project is the seamless integration of each stone's unique silhouette with its corresponding numerical index and collection time. This consistent indexing system not only provides an organized structure but also reinforces the narrative of each stone's journey. By applying these graphics directly to packaging, the project further blurs the lines between identity and object, ensuring that every design output maintains the individuality inherent in its stone origin.

The Poetic Dualities of "Numerous Difference"

The title of the project, "Numerous Difference" (一百不同), encapsulates a profound duality. While literally translating to 'one hundred differences,' its typographic arrangement also allows for an alternative reading: 'one stone, different' (一石不同). This clever play on words beautifully illustrates the core philosophy of the project—recognizing both the collective diversity of the stones and the singular identity of each one.

Spatial Encounters: The Immersive Stone Installation

Beyond two-dimensional applications, the project extends into an engaging spatial installation. This immersive experience features large paper sheets, each meticulously cut with a void that mirrors one of the traced stone outlines. These sheets, suspended from a wooden framework, create a linear progression, inviting viewers to gaze through multiple layers and witness the silhouettes merge into a fluid, continuous visual landscape.

A Full Circle Journey: Returning to Nature

In a final, poignant act, designer Wenbin Li meticulously returned each stone to its precise original location along the coastline after the exhibition concluded. This gesture signifies a deep respect for the natural world and completes the stones' journey, re-establishing their place within the environment from which they were initially drawn. It underscores the project's cyclical nature, from natural inspiration to artistic interpretation and back to nature.