The Hanoi creative space design contest was launched on October 28 by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and Architecture Magazine in collaboration with the Hanoi’s People Committee and the Vietnam Association of Architects.

A section of Phuc Tan Street in Hanoi is decorated by a group of Vietnamese artists.
(Photo tamnhin.net.vn)

The contest is one of the events in a series of activities launched by Hanoi to raise the community’s awareness and engagement in the cultural and creative pulse of the city and realise creative hubs and communities in the capital city.

With a history of more than 1,000 years, Hanoi is considering the creative economy as the core factor in the city’s dynamic, comprehensive and sustainable development process. The contest aims to mobilise new ideas and unique initiatives to build creative and cultural hubs in Hanoi in order to awaken potential and form a network of rich and attractive creative spaces for the city, said To Van Dong, director of the culture department and head of the contest organising board.

To inspire new and unique ideas in designing and exploiting city spaces, contestants can self-suggest locations or spaces to design or choose one of three topics suggested by the board of organisers. They include: promoting infrastructure like community living spaces in residential areas, parks or hospitals, malls or walking streets; organising creative spaces on the basis of exploiting industrial work in urban areas that must be relocated or switch functions like factories, handicraft production facilities, warehouses or industrial zones; preserving and promoting the value of architectural spaces and traditional planning at cultural spaces and traditional craft villages or historic areas.

Entries will be collected on March 22, 2021. The total value of prizes for professional and semi-professional sectors in all categories is up to VND330 million (US$14,200).