LIXIL ALP 2025–2026: Reflecting on the Series of Kick-off Activities for the “Urban Health” Research Journey

A series of in-depth seminars and dialogues in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City marked the opening phase of the LIXIL Architecture Leader Perspective (LIXIL ALP) 2025–2026 research journey, laying the foundation for a two-year program under the theme “Urban Health”. Through these initial milestones, the program continues to reinforce the role of LIXIL ALP as a multidisciplinary platform, oriented toward solutions with practical applicability for Vietnamese cities.

In the context of rapidly developing Vietnamese cities, challenges related to quality of life, environment, and public health are becoming increasingly urgent. In response to this reality, LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 selects “Urban Health” as its overarching theme, approaching the city as a living ecosystem that requires comprehensive and interdisciplinary research.

Through the theme “Urban Health”, LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 raises core questions about the relationship between living spaces and the physical health, mental well-being, and social connectedness of urban residents, while shaping the approach for the next one-year research phase. The program encourages architects, planners, and researchers to reflect, engage in dialogue, and gradually move toward feasible solutions that can be tested in practice, with the aim of improving quality of life and community well-being in Vietnamese cities.

A distinctive aspect of LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 lies in the active participation of developers throughout the research process, not only as partners, but also through defining problems, sharing real-world contexts, and expressing implementation needs. This approach enables the program’s proposals to be more closely aligned with the realities of urban development in Vietnam, while opening up opportunities to test solutions in actual projects.

The initial activities of LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 mark important starting steps, while laying the foundation for an “Urban Health” research journey that continues to expand in the following phases.

Kick-off and shaping the “Urban Health” journey

The LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 journey was initiated with the “Connect & Kick-off” event held on 24/09/2025 at the LIXIL Experience Center (LEC), Hanoi. This milestone officially introduced the theme “Urban Health”, while establishing a dialogue space among professional associations, advisory council members, architects, researchers, businesses, and developer representatives.

Through dialogue, sharing of direction, and introduction of the research roadmap, LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 gradually clarified a comprehensive approach to “Urban Health”: not limited to physical health, but also encompassing environmental factors, infrastructure, landscape, interior spaces, and the mental life of residents. Perspectives from architecture, planning, interior design, construction, and urban development were placed within a shared dialogue framework, highlighting interdisciplinarity as a prerequisite for addressing current urban challenges.

Official launch & Launch of LIXIL ALP 2023–2024 publication

Following the initial phase of shaping and orientation, LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 was officially launched in Ho Chi Minh City within the framework of the Vietnam Interior & Construction Exhibition (VIBE), held on 02/10/2025. The event expanded the program’s dialogue space to the architecture, design, planning, and construction community in the southern region.

Here, LIXIL Vietnam officially announced the theme “Urban Health” and the key research directions for the 2025–2026 phase, focusing on the relationship between urban living spaces and the physical and mental health of residents.

Mr. Phan Dang Son – President of the Vietnam Association of Architects – the professional patron organization also emphasized: “For nearly a decade, the Vietnam Association of Architects has accompanied the LIXIL ALP program. ‘Urban Health’ is a strategic theme that accurately reflects the urgent challenges Vietnamese cities are facing, from infrastructure to quality of life. The Association will continue to support the program in terms of professional expertise. At the same time, we encourage multi-stakeholder participation to build an increasingly strong program that delivers practical value to the community. We believe that this year’s LIXIL ALP journey will generate many initiatives, contributing to shaping Vietnamese cities toward a more sustainable and human-centered future.”

From a practical implementation perspective, developers and project stakeholders also noted that “Urban Health” is not merely an academic concept, but a key issue that needs to be integrated from the project development stage. Mr. Nguyen Tri Dung, Project Architecture Director, Technical Services Department, Real Estate Division, Keppel Vietnam, stated: “In the context of rapid urbanization, focusing solely on buildings or infrastructure is not sufficient; what matters is understanding how people actually live in those spaces and interact daily. According to him, the ‘Urban Health’ theme of LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 accurately reflects current urban challenges, from transportation, water and air quality, access to green spaces, to indoor environmental quality – factors that directly impact both physical and mental health of residents.”

Within the framework of the event, LIXIL officially introduced the book “LIXIL ALP 2023–2024: Urban Regeneration”, summarizing the previous two-year research journey. The publication compiles five representative research topics with innovative and highly applicable solutions in regenerating public spaces, landscapes, housing, and urban infrastructure, demonstrating the continuous link between academic research and design practice.

With the participation of experts, architects, researchers, developers, and professional organizations, this phase continued to expand the multidisciplinary dialogue space, connecting theory with practical experience, while affirming the role of LIXIL ALP as a credible professional collaboration platform in architecture and urban development.

Announcement of research topics & multi-stakeholder collaboration

After the process of open call, evaluation, and selection of proposals, LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 officially entered the in-depth research phase with the announcement event of selected research topics and research teams held on 07/11/2025 in Hanoi. This milestone marked the transition from defining the theme to implementing specific research projects with clear roadmaps and application orientation in the context of Vietnamese cities.

At the event, six research topics selected by the advisory council from dozens of submissions were officially announced. These topics focus on core factors shaping urban quality of life, simultaneously impacting physical and mental health, the relationship between humans and the natural environment, as well as the sustainability and human-centered aspects of urban spaces, including: green mobility; environmental health and air-water quality; healthy interior spaces; urban landscape linked to mental well-being; biodiversity and urban resilience. Each topic is supported by a research unit and professional advisors, ensuring academic rigor, practical relevance, and potential for real-world application.

“Urban Health” is understood not only at the scale of infrastructure or macro planning, but also present in everyday living spaces and daily experiences of people. In this context, responsible use of water and energy, based on advanced technology, is becoming an important factor in creating a healthy urban ecosystem. GROHE – a leading global brand in premium bathroom and kitchen solutions – approaches this challenge through water technology solutions that enhance user experience while optimizing resource efficiency, contributing to more sustainable and higher-quality living environments in urban areas.

A representative of GROHE – a partner of the program – shared that GROHE sees a clear alignment between the “Urban Health” theme of LIXIL ALP 2025–2026 and the brand’s development philosophy. For GROHE, “Pure Freude an Wasser” – Pure joy of water – is the guiding principle behind all innovations, from refined design to the application of advanced technologies, creating smart, convenient, and sustainable products.

By accompanying LIXIL ALP 2025–2026, GROHE brings perspectives and water technology solutions that contribute to enhancing the quality of urban living spaces through refined, safe, and sustainable water experiences in everyday life.

Alongside the announcement of research topics, thematic presentations and open discussions further clarified the concept of “Urban Health” from a comprehensive perspective. Accordingly, “Urban Health” is not only related to infrastructure or macro planning, but also closely tied to daily living experiences. These discussions also emphasized an interdisciplinary approach, from architecture, planning, and landscape to technology and investment, enabling cities to be viewed as a “living organism” that needs to be nurtured and sustained over time.

The three implementation stages in the initial phase of LIXIL ALP 2025–2026, from meetings, orientation, and launch to the announcement of research topics and research teams, have laid the foundation for a long-term interdisciplinary collaboration program. LIXIL ALP affirms its role as a platform connecting architects, designers, researchers, developers, professional associations, and businesses to collaborate, share knowledge, and drive positive impact for Vietnamese cities.

In the upcoming phase, the six selected research teams, including architecture firms and professional organizations, will begin developing design solutions based on these topics. The program activities will continue until 2026, concluding with a final symposium and Pavilion exhibition expected in November 2026, where selected solutions will be publicly presented to the community.

The latest updates about the program will be available on the LIXIL-Hub fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/lixilhub

Reference :

https://xhubvietnam.com/tin-tuc/lixil-alp-2025-2026-nhin-lai-chuoi-hoat-dong-mo-dau-hanh-trinh-nghien-cuu-suc-khoe-do-thi