Recycled water from a ground-floor fish pond is used to nourish fruit trees on the roof of a house in Danang City, Vietnam, by Vo Trong Nghia Architects.
Formed from brick and stone boxes stacked around a green courtyard, Thang House is the latest in the practice's House for Trees series.

Vo Trong Nghia Architects designed these homes to bring nature into dense urban environments.
"Thang House pledges to contribute in the greening of the urban landscape and the improving of the habitat by providing sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture," said the studio.

Intended to be self-sufficient, solar panels provide energy for the home while an automatic water recycling system circulates water between the fish pond and the planted areas. In plan, the house is two parallel strips on a small urban plot, one containing the living spaces and the other containing a garden enclosed by a high, planted wall.

The green wall extends upwards to the roof garden, which contains nine planted boxes.
"The green area lost due to construction work was compensated by a fruit garden on the rooftop that gets sunlight and shelters the building," said the studio.

Openings and balconies in the living areas face out onto the site's green spaces and its small fish pond.
These areas of outdoor space are for "bringing natural light, fresh air and the aroma of grass and flowers into every single corner of the house," said the practice.

Four boxes house the livin...