Chu Kim Đức

Architect Chu Kim Đức is a leading figure in the creation of public spaces in Vietnam. She graduated in 2003 from the Department of Planning at Hanoi University of Architecture, before pursuing a Master’s degree in Garden History and Landscape Heritage at the Versailles School of Architecture in France.

In 2014, together with her colleagues, she launched Think Playgrounds, an initiative dedicated to ensuring the Right to Play. The organisation champions creative, child-friendly and environmentally sustainable public spaces, often built with recycled materials and designed to enhance urban biodiversity. Over the past decade, Think Playgrounds has delivered more than 270 playgrounds across Vietnam, including pioneering projects for children with disabilities, offering them safe and inclusive environments.

Her tireless contributions have not gone unnoticed. In 2020, the BBC named her among the 100 most influential women in the world (BBC 100 Women 2020) for her advocacy of children’s right to play in Vietnam. She has also received several other prestigious accolades, including the Third Prize for Recycled Art awarded by UNESCO Vietnam (2018) and the APSIPA Asia Pacific Social Innovation Award (2022) in the Social Prosperity category.