SaiGon River Memory Museum

Saigon – Ho Chi Minh City has been shaped for over three centuries by its rivers and waterways. From the southward expeditions led by Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, the city developed as a strategic trading port connected by a dense canal network. During French Indochina, Saigon emerged as a major commercial gateway. While the Saigon River once embodied the city’s history, culture, and daily life, rapid urbanization has gradually obscured this fluvial heritage beneath concrete infrastructure and vertical growth.

The project site is located in District 4, bordered by the Te Canal, the Saigon River, and the Ben Nghe Canal, and situated between two historic landmarks: Nha Rong Wharf and the City Water Tower. This unique condition informs the design concept “The Cut – a trace of separation and connection,” reflecting how waterways historically fragmented the urban fabric while simultaneously acting as connective cultural systems.

A primary axis links the two landmarks, choreographing memory through the heart of the museum and positioning the building as a repository and mediator of collective memory. The architecture is composed of two main volumes: one addressing the urban context, the other engaging the river landscape. Their elevated, partially detached forms reinterpret the traditional relationship of “wharves above, boats beneath,” evoking Saigon’s riverside way of life.

The museum comprises two main components:
Exhibition Area:
The exhibition area is the core component of the museum and occupies the largest spatial proportion. It is organized as a carefully sequenced journey that reconstructs the lifestyle, warehouses, ports, and urban memories of Saigon during the era when waterways defined the city.

The experience begins at the ceremonial lobby, conceived as a spatial metaphor of continuous flow. With its tall vertical volume, layered depth, flowing fabrics, suspended boats, and interwoven wall materials, the space embodies the notion of “TIME.” Extending throughout the building, the ceremonial lobby functions as a transitional spine linking different exhibition themes.

The exhibition narrative guides visitors from past to present, evoking memories of Saigon’s once-wild riverine landscape. Along the journey, scenes of shipyards, vibrant trading ports, and the familiar image of “wharves above, boats beneath” are vividly recalled—memories that have gradually faded from the collective consciousness.

Outdoor Experience Area:
The ground floor is liberated as a public outdoor space that reactivates forgotten water-related values. Through traditional riverside crafts and re-enactments of “wharves above, boats beneath,” the space reconnects visitors with Saigon’s river heritage. Designed with staggered wooden platforms, bridges, and short-term exhibitions using reused shipping containers, it functions as a community node. The preserved water surface beneath the building accommodates the annual Ho Chi Minh City Waterway Cultural Festival.