This project insists on the idea of circumstantial translations of parameters already embedded on the site. 

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Besides the technical dimensions, this site hosts a much broader cultural and heritage dimension that together play great importance in the memories of the citizens and in the urban fabric of Saigon. The original modernist building, and its extension, is a symbolic manifestation of these long-ignored dimensions. Saigon, more than ever, needs to re-examine what makes its identity and what doesn't to better address urban issues. 

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Keeping in mind the democratic features of a public institution and of its urban role, the library adheres to its context, attaches to its residents and bypassers by open up a new public park intertwined with public services on the ground level. This buffer zone of amenities plays as a landmark for orientation, radiating vertically to library facilities. 

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The underground spaces make the most out of their unique configuration, allowing light wells together with interior gardens for a more responsible climatization, noise cancellation, and a rather introvert intimacy needed in free, open, intellectual exchanges.