Chu Kim Duc

Chu Kim Đức is a Vietnamese architect, co-founder and director of Think Playgrounds. Her work at Think Playgrounds focuses on ensuring children's right to play within the public realm.

Early life and education Đức was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1980. After graduating as an architect from Hanoi University of Architecture with a degree in Urbanism in 2003, she studied the History of Gardens, Heritage and Landscape in Versailles in 2007 before returning to Vietnam. Due to rapid urban development in Hanoi, outdoor play spaces for children are difficult to locate. In comparison to other similar high-density Asian cities with 39m2 of green space per inhabitant, Hanoi has only 11.2m2 per capita. While the project was never competed, this left Đức with the desire to continue working towards providing a playground for children in Hanoi. By repurposing these materials into slides, zip lines, jungle gyms and other equipment, In collaboration with the community, they installed swings, slides, and seesaws in a vacant lot within the neighbourhood. Workshops for adults were held on the first day, teaching them how to build a pop-up playground which was then explored by children on the second day. This structure reflects the unique condition in which the Vietnamese Government is unwilling to accept NGOs and other non-profit organizations that aim to solve public problems. Through collaboration with foreign and local organizations, communities, and artists, paired with funding from domestic and international sources, they have created over 200 public playgrounds for children, and hosted over 30 public events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, since establishing Think Playgrounds.

Đức's more recent work involves the design of therapeutic playgrounds for children with disabilities and special considerations for the Vietnam National Children's Hospital, as well as an inclusive playground for children with Visual impairments at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Secondary School.

Recognition

2016 – Funding from Urban95 Challenge, Bernard Van Leers Foundation. 2017 – First Prize, Raising Awareness on Green City Solutions in Vietnam, Embassy of Denmark. 2018 – Third place, The Art of Recycle Awards, UNESCO, Vietnam. 2019 – Joint Project of the Year, Ashui Award, Vietnam. 2020 – BBC List of 100 Women, recognized for her work promoting children's right to play in Vietnam.