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The Running Bean Ben Thanh
The Running Bean Ben Thanh
5, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
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Other Projects by NU Architecture & Design
The Running Bean Ben Thanh
5, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2025
SIZE
3000 sqft - 5000 sqft
BUDGET
Unknown
The Running Bean Ben Thanh: Reflection in Motion
Located at one of District 1’s most active intersections, The Running Bean Ben Thanh sits beside Ben Thanh Market, a landmark completed in 1914 that has shaped the rhythm of its surroundings for over a century. The 450m² café and restaurant is embedded within this condition, defined by constant movement and the pace of urban life.
The project began with direct observation of how people move through the site, including arrivals, crossings, short stops, and regular returns. These rhythms became the basis for design decisions, allowing the architecture to take shape naturally and stay connected to its context.
Reflection as Method
Reflection emerges from this process as a way of engaging context. Through geometry, repetition, and material, the building responds to its surroundings and moves with the rhythms of the street.
The upper portion of the existing structure was preserved, retaining its Neo-Haussmann character as a quiet acknowledgment of the area’s urban memory. Below, a new architectural language emerges, contemporary yet shaped by Ben Thanh Market's presence. Inspired by the market’s canopy geometries, a rhythmic series of arched openings extends across both street fronts, aligning the building with the cadence of its surroundings.
This reflective quality is extended through material. Custom bronze-textured hand-glazed terracotta tiles define the façade surface, capturing shifting light, street movement, and fragments of the market opposite. Reflection here is not about recreating an image, but about acknowledging presence.
Interior: Spatial Sequence and Cultural Reference
Inside, the arched geometries of the façade are carried inward, maintaining continuity between exterior and interior. At the point of entry, a double-height void establishes scale and orientation, drawing natural light deep into the plan and visually connecting the levels above and below. Suspended within it, a woven artwork references the form of a coffee bean. Composed of layered, semi-transparent surfaces, it allows light to pass through and shift across the interior.
The spatial organization draws from Ô Ăn Quan, a traditional Vietnamese folk game structured by continuous movement. Stones are picked up and redistributed sequentially across compartments in a loop. Replacing these stones with coffee beans, the same movement becomes legible as The Running Bean. Circulation flows continuously through the space, seating introduces moments of pause, and service counters concentrate activity, forming a continuous sequence without rigid zoning.
This geometry extends into surface and detail, carried across scales from ceiling compositions to tabletop divisions. Rattan furniture, woven surfaces, and handcrafted finishes ground the space in a shared material language, natural, tactile, and rooted in everyday Vietnamese life.
At The Running Bean Ben Thanh, architecture moves with its context, shaped by the rhythms of the street and the patterns of everyday use. The project becomes part of the city’s ongoing flow, where space, movement, and urban life continuously reflect one another.
Located at one of District 1’s most active intersections, The Running Bean Ben Thanh sits beside Ben Thanh Market, a landmark completed in 1914 that has shaped the rhythm of its surroundings for over a century. The 450m² café and restaurant is embedded within this condition, defined by constant movement and the pace of urban life.
The project began with direct observation of how people move through the site, including arrivals, crossings, short stops, and regular returns. These rhythms became the basis for design decisions, allowing the architecture to take shape naturally and stay connected to its context.
Reflection as Method
Reflection emerges from this process as a way of engaging context. Through geometry, repetition, and material, the building responds to its surroundings and moves with the rhythms of the street.
The upper portion of the existing structure was preserved, retaining its Neo-Haussmann character as a quiet acknowledgment of the area’s urban memory. Below, a new architectural language emerges, contemporary yet shaped by Ben Thanh Market's presence. Inspired by the market’s canopy geometries, a rhythmic series of arched openings extends across both street fronts, aligning the building with the cadence of its surroundings.
This reflective quality is extended through material. Custom bronze-textured hand-glazed terracotta tiles define the façade surface, capturing shifting light, street movement, and fragments of the market opposite. Reflection here is not about recreating an image, but about acknowledging presence.
Interior: Spatial Sequence and Cultural Reference
Inside, the arched geometries of the façade are carried inward, maintaining continuity between exterior and interior. At the point of entry, a double-height void establishes scale and orientation, drawing natural light deep into the plan and visually connecting the levels above and below. Suspended within it, a woven artwork references the form of a coffee bean. Composed of layered, semi-transparent surfaces, it allows light to pass through and shift across the interior.
The spatial organization draws from Ô Ăn Quan, a traditional Vietnamese folk game structured by continuous movement. Stones are picked up and redistributed sequentially across compartments in a loop. Replacing these stones with coffee beans, the same movement becomes legible as The Running Bean. Circulation flows continuously through the space, seating introduces moments of pause, and service counters concentrate activity, forming a continuous sequence without rigid zoning.
This geometry extends into surface and detail, carried across scales from ceiling compositions to tabletop divisions. Rattan furniture, woven surfaces, and handcrafted finishes ground the space in a shared material language, natural, tactile, and rooted in everyday Vietnamese life.
At The Running Bean Ben Thanh, architecture moves with its context, shaped by the rhythms of the street and the patterns of everyday use. The project becomes part of the city’s ongoing flow, where space, movement, and urban life continuously reflect one another.
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