Theater of Southern Vietnamese Folk Performance

By reviving a forgotten historic site, Gieng Nuoc Park — centrally located and extending to the Tien River — becomes the ideal foundation for a new theater: a place that honors memory, connects communities, and affirms cultural identity. The project redefines cultural space in the city while rekindling collective memory and reconnecting people to Southern intangible heritage.

Sensing the lyrical soul of place, the wooden “CảiLương” troupe boat drifts gently along the river, carrying echoes of soulful songs through alleys and canals, breathing life into memory. By day the theater blends seamlessly with the park; by night it glows, shimmering like drifting beams upon the water.

The core of the design is a floating timber frame on water, three main spaces: auditorium, exhibition, and community areas:

– Respecting the site – Context dialogue: Instead of a massive block, the design preserves the lake, forming an open timber framework with voids oriented to the park and waterfront, creating spatial flow.

– Memory recall: The façade takes inspiration from vintage cải lương banners and posters, transformed into vibrant panels that invite visitors into a space of memory and performance.

– Local identity: Timber, scaled by the traditional thước tầm and a 12.8m grid, create familiar spaces.

– Floating hall: A 1,200-seat-auditorium hangs within timber frame, becoming a striking centerpiece like a “drifting barge.”

– Semi-open layers: Console decks weave into the frame, forming multi-level platforms for workshops, exhibitions, performances and gatherings overlooking the lake.

– Underground use: smaller halls and  museum beneath the lake connect to the Yersin pedestrian axis, activating underground spaces.