South Saigon International School

Located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, South Saigon International School is part of the roughly 640-acre Saigon South district planned by SOM in the mid-1990s. Flansburgh, a Boston based-firm with a reputation for designing international schools, created the 2.5-acre master plan for the Saigon South International School project and subsequently was awarded the design of two buildings, the middle school and a smaller STEAM center for high schoolers. The design of both buildings, which face each other across a green commons, draws inspiration from the Sapa region in northern Vietnam, known for its dramatic topography that supports rice farming. The terraced hillsides create stepped paddies with undulating edges, where crops turn from bright green to yellow at harvest time.