Life space building : how life settle itself in residual spaces. The case study of Hanoi

The city of Hanoi has undergone changes, the youth of today are living in quite a different social contextsociety than their parents and especially grandparents, due to economic reforms that have rapidly increased the foreign investment and flow of information from the outside world. This has led to some diverging and sometimes conflicting opinions arising from people of different ages possibly having other ideals and values than their parents and grandparents. Memories from the past, new wind of the current generation, and the city is in transition facing the issue which every city now has to face: how to move forward a sustainable development with limited natural, social and capital resources. This thesis investigate the possibility to utilize and redesign public spaces and abandoned places in Hanoi's urban setting (due to this fast-forward economical growth and changing in viewpoint of development). The project focus on the tangible and intangible connection inside the city: the city itself with its own nature, putting new meanings to the old monumental memory, the link between generations in the city, and set a foundation for the cultural development in the future. Research questions: Architecture is the result of a certain social/economical/natural setting in certain period, and in turn it lease effect on the inhabitant's living habit and welfare. How sould I make use of the settings which already manifested on the city of Hanoi, for the sustainable development toward the future? What tool can I use to make it a minimum intervention/footprint with maximized effect?