Project: New Church of Ka Don Parish
Location: Don Duong, Lam Dong, Vietnam
Topos: An elongated hilltop
Typus: Catholic Church
Area: 20.000 qm
BGF: 2.100 qm
Year: 2009-2014
Commission: LPH 1-9 HOAI
Status: Completed
Cost: KG 300+400 450.000 EUR
Clients & Users: Catholic Parish Ka Don, Diocese of Da Lat 
Authors: Huong Vu, Dung Nguyen
Mentors: Prof. Finn Geipel, Prof. Klaus Zillich
Advisors: Prof. Eddy Widjaja, Prof. Rainer Mertes
Team: Dieu Luong, Thang Nguyen, Huy Bui, Giang Vu, An Nguyen, Tho Nguyen, Parish members
Funding: Missio Germany via the Association of German Dioceses, Archdiocese of Berlin, McLaughlin Family (USA), private benefactors
Awards:
*Award “Progetto Segnalato”, European Awards for Sacred Architecture, Fondazione Frate Sole, Pavia, Italy, 2011
*Second Prize at the International Awards for Sacred Architecture VI Edition 2016, Fondazione Frate Sole, Pavia, Italy
*Hans-Schäfers-Preis 2016, BDA Berlin 
Credits: 
1, 4, 6, 9-11 © Robert Herrmann
2, 5, 7, 8 © Nam Phan
17 © Parish Ka Don
3, 12-16, 18-21 © vn-a

The generously-sized plot in the Central Highlands of Vietnam features a number of architectural structures. The church, which stands at the centre of the site, is complemented by a bell tower in the south-west corner as well as buildings such as a museum, community hall and rectory, sanitary facilities and a sanctuary building on the property's eastern edge. The bell tower, a simple and open triangular structure in steel, measures three by three metres by 27 metres high, and thanks to the crucifix at its top, is clearly visible from a distance. The same straightforward form language characterises the church, where everything is based on a rectangular ground plan with the huge outer dimensions of 60 by 35 metres. The long sides of the building, which reaches up to eleven metres in height, are aligned to the north and south. A central role is played by the pronounced roof, in keeping with the architects' motto: "A roof for the people". Designed in the form of a half-hipped, clay-tiled gablet roof, it spans the spaciously proportioned interior, flattening out to form a straight canopy over the entrance area. Two large clerestory windows provide a connection to the outside and let in additional light.  
The lack of outer walls creates a smooth transition between the outside and the interior, which instead is enclosed within a series of slender steel posts and double-layered elements made up of narrow timber battens; these provide spatial zoning oriented to the grid of the posts while also enabling open and flexible uses. Every second batten in the elements has been left away, creating the impression of a kind of translucent curtain. The result is an intriguing interplay, a merging and superimposition of the interior space with the outer surroundings. The glimpses of nature thus provided are ornamentation enough, doing away with the need for elaborate decoration.  Glass between the two layers of the batten panels ensures protection from the weather.
Partitions on the two transverse sides form separate areas for classroom use and can be shifted to enlarge the central area. The seating concept provides the building a maximum capacity of 3,000 seats which moreover can be freely arranged.
The building is much more than a religious establishment, being a place for encounter and exchange within the community.  As humble living conditions are common in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, the church was built as a do-it-yourself project, thus lastingly strengthening the local population.
Trở lại Ka Đơn | Kiến trúc và Đời Sống 
Hội nhập và những giá trị nghệ thuật của Giáo hội Công giáo Việt Nam | Công Giáo và Dân Tộc 
Lễ Cung hiến và khánh thành Nhà thờ Ka Đơn (Đà Lạt) | Ashui
Media: Ka Đơn Church / vn-a | Chimnon Studio
Prints:

Premio Internazionale di Architettura Sacra ‘Frate Sole’ VI edizione
edited by Adrea Vaccari
Publisher: Fondazione Frate Sole
Publication date: 4.Oct.2016
Language: Italian / English
New Church of Ka Don Parish, pages 22-26


CHIESE Uscita Nº 10
e luoghi di culto e della memoria
National Holocaust Monument Ottawa / Daniel Libeskind
Publisher: Le Sfide Dell’Architettura
Publication date: 23.Jun.2018
Language: Italian
New Church of Ka Don Parish, pages 58-61


ARCH+ 227
Vietnam – Die Rückkehr des Klimas
Publisher: ARCH+ Verlag GmbH
Editor: Anh-Linh Ngo
Publication date: 20.Feb.2017
Language: German
New Church of Ka Don Parish, pages 194-201


Southeast Asian Modern
From Roots to Contemporary Turns
Publisher: Birkhäuser
Authors: Peter G. Rowe, Professor, Yun Fu, Architect and Scholar, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Publication date: 03.Mai.2022
Language: English
New Church of Ka Don Parish, pages 85-92