Strange, poorly designed houses pop up around the city

>> The Hanoi world is flat

Despite certain laws banning the practice, super slim and strange-looking houses continue to be built on many of Hanoi’s streets.

A home that cannot fit a motorbike

Along one 5 kilometre stretch of National Highway 32, which has yet to be completed, many examples of this kind of structure can be seen. Dozens of these oddly shaped houses, sometimes only one or two metres from front to back on ground level, are currently under construction just opposite the Vietnam University of Commerce. Taking advantage of the square metre space on the ground floor, the builders expand the upper floors.

“They look like birds’ nests. I do not know why their owners would desire such queer designs. It looks like they might collapse,” said Nguyen Minh Hoa who lives just behind such a structure.

There are more homes like these in the town of Nhon, on the national nighway. Many of them are built on plots of 10 square metres.

One home in Cau Dien Town has two storeys, with a ground space of 60cm x 6m. This building was salvaged from an older building that was destroyed to build National Highway 32. One wall was left, which the owner kept, using it to build his two storey “bird’s nest”.

A whole range of misshaped buildings, resembling triangles and various parallelograms, are to be seen along the streets of the capital, many times right along side major landmarks.

The city has already issued regulations meant to tighten control over construction. Land plots less than 15 square metres, or those with a width of less than 3 metres, are forbidden to be built upon.

The Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Nguyen The Thao, has urged districts to deal with this type of violation.

Lack of ground space is made up for by expanding upper floors

A five-storey house, one metre long, on Le Trong Tan Road (Ha Dong District)

A super-slim house in Cau Dien Town on National Highway 32