I think this building was constructed as an excuse to rent out a very prominent large billboard sign.
This building is located facing Đường Xuân Diệu on the corner with Đường Hoàng Văn Thù across from the smallish and outdated Ho Chi Minh City International Exhibition and Convention Center in the Tân Bình district. The convention center block is probably one of the largest round-a-bouts in the world, with traffic moving around it counter-clockwise. Traffic on Đường Hoàng Văn Thù is one-way to the northeast moving towards this sign/building, as shown in the photo below taken 300 meters up the street. The current graphics of the sign are rather low-key since the green doesn't contrast with the sky.
This building started construction about two years ago, but was just recently completed. Work stopped for several months last year. In the photo below taken a year ago, I wondered at the time about the economics of the small floor areas, as well as the apparent flimsiness of the structure.
Since Saigon is in an earthquake zone of low incidence and magnitude, the structure is adequate, but much flimsier than a building in San Francisco or Tokyo, for example. However, this building is one of the cheapest buildings I have seen anywhere, irrespective of the amount of glass used on the facade. The detailing of the glass curtain wall is about as spare as any system I have every seen. There isn't much to this building other than the concrete frame, the brick back walls, and the glass curtain walls.
Since the glazing is not double-glazed for insulation, nor is the glass likely to be a high-tech low-e (emissivity) glass to reduce solar gain, the spaces in this greenhouse must get extremely hot, causing a large air-conditioning load.
Nevertheless, the building is a good example of the excellent modernist architecture common for buildings like this in Ho Chi Minh City.
