How Ho Chi Minh City architects are reshaping the city, in the spirit of Zaha Hadid

Dam Vu cannot stop smiling. In a quiet backstreet of Binh An, one of Ho Chi Minh City’s more affluent neighbourhoods, the architect is giving me a tour of the whimsical kindergarten his firm has just completed. With its bold, orange-and-yellow colour scheme and quirky design, Chuon Chuon Kim 2 Kindergarten has been created with the happiness of its young users in mind.

Leaning on a spiral staircase that leads to a third-floor ceiling that is punctured by small holes to give the appear­ance of a starry night sky, 39-year-old Vu explains why he is beaming.

“We wanted to design a space that is fun, adventur­ous, somewhere children will just love to be,” he says. “I think we have done that well. I love being in here myself. It makes me feel young again.”

There is, indeed, an energy to the kindergarten. Whether peeking through its porthole-style windows, wandering down its bright, curved hallways or exploring its many concealed nooks, I can’t help thinking how much I would have relished such a place as a curious child. As late, great architect Zaha Hadid once said, “I don’t think that architecture is only about shelter, is only about a very simple enclosure. It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think.”

Judging by the giggles of the students running around us, Vu has achieved just that.