If you spend time in Vietnam, you’ll quickly notice the abundance of narrow buildings. Some are so slim that they seem barely wide enough to fit a double bed inside. And don’t even ask me how they manage to get a double bed up into those places!
Why the skinny buildings?
“The 87 Ma May house is a classic example of late 19th-century housing in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. It was renovated by a UNESCO-funded organization to a close approximation of its original condition. Many houses in the Old Quarter are known as “tube houses” since they can be as long as 70 meters and as narrow as two meters–this developed as an attempt to minimize taxes, as each property was taxed according to the width of the street-facing facade. To allow for sufficient light in these narrow dwellings, it was necessary to design multiple courtyards along the length of each house. Although the 87 Ma May house is comparatively wide, it was designed along the same principals.”
