Old Flames Die Hard
In a village outside of Hanoi, a new pottery museum offers a contemporary reimagining of Vietnam’s artisanal heritage.
Architecture
The Economist
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27th June 2022
Vietnamese Modernism Was Ahead of Its Time
It is difficult to imagine Ho Chi Minh city without its glittering towers of glass and steel looming over the urban sprawl. Home to around 9m people, Vietnam’s commercial capital is its most populous city; yet prior to the 1960s, high-rise buildings were rare in Saigon, as it was known until 1975. The one that went up during that decade at 151 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia in downtown Saigon was pioneering: it offered a solution to the question of where to house the city’s rapidly growing population, inspiring the constr
Wallpaper*
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15th July 2021
Green List
On a sizzling April afternoon, a rainstorm pummels Ho Chi Minh City. Despite the deafening downpour, temperatures stay miserably high in the megacity’s concrete and glass-laden central districts. Urbanites remain sheltered in offices and cafés, which are sealed and air-conditioned. After the outburst, which lasts for an hour or so, the clouds crack and the sun resumes its offensive, turning the city’s soggy centre into a steam bath.
FRAME
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18th March 2021
Are Mashrabiya Facades Making a Comeback in Hanoi?
Looking at Hanoi’s aspirations for the future is like examining the mistakes of its counterparts in the present. Rather than forge a new cityscape and avoid the mishaps of Bangkok and Manila, Hanoi seems set to emulate these traffic-clogged, glass-obsessed and heat-choked dystopias.
Interior Design Magazine
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11th March 2022
Bridge to Tomorrow
The Chao Phraya, Thailand’s major river, meanders through the center of the country, linking the ruins of the former capital, Ayutthaya, to the current one, Bangkok, about 50 miles to the south. The legendary waterway, which has nurtured Thai civilization for centuries, is what inspires—and flows around—Sala Bang Pa-In, a new island re- sort by Department of Architecture, the firm’s second project for the Sala Hospitality Group, a regional chain of nine luxury hotels, spas, and boutique properties.
Hidden Compass
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12th January 2022
A House of Many Hues
Burnt incense flavors the air before drifting away and dissipating in the mist. Monks in saffron robes chant tirelessly, in unison. Magenta orchids and marigold lilies adorn an altar draped in crimson fabrics.
ICON
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3rd June 2021
Verdant Vietnam
Across the world, biophilic architecture is in full bloom as firms theatrically intertwine buildings with nature. But in Vietnam, architects are harnessing biophilia more quietly.
Fodors Travel Guide
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4th October 2021
Is This Hotel Misleading Guests About Its Colonial Heritage?
In Vietnam, an abandoned university-turned-beachfront hotel seems to be a shining example of the country’s colonial past—except that its history is entirely made up.
Gracing the southern tip of Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island is Bai Khem, one of the tropical haven’s most alluring beaches. Here, a thicket of palm trees bows to a cerulean sea as it tenderly laps a crescent of dimpled sand. Hills canvased in the jungle rise behind cordial palms, leading to the island’s craggy interior.
At the bay’s so
Wired UK
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22nd March 2021
Bamboo Buildings Are the Future
Flexible, quick to grow, and cheap, the charismatic plant has sprouted a whole new style. Around 130km southwest of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, sits Cuc Phuong National Park.
Vietcetera
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30th November 2021
Architect An Viet Dung Is Blurring The Lines Between Countryside and City
I’m sitting cross-legged cradling a cup of warm tea. The scent of the fresh brew flavors the air while trickling water and bulging pot plants nourish the space. The man facing me is youthful and handsome, his thick eyebrows raised in excitement. He’s guiding me through a small book.
It feels like a spa manager is presenting a tempting selection of treatments in some far-flung rural retreat. In reality, an architect is explaining building plans in a high-rise office. The crafted tranquility of t
Interior Design Magazine
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5th May 2021
Creative Voices: Vo Trong Nghia
2020 saw Vo Trong Nghia’s green architecture propagate throughout Vietnam. He boosted his “House for Trees” collection – residential projects that are home to both plants and people – including the award-winning Bat Trang House in Hanoi. He embarked on Dong Na Villas, a residential masterplan replete with roads and restaurants outside of Hoi An. But perhaps most arresting are Vo’s three ambitious new bamboo structures: The Huong An Vien Visiting Center in Hue, the Vedana Restaurant in Ninh Binh and an events hall in Phu Quoc.
Wallpaper*
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15th October 2020
Urban Jungle
A few kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City's heaving centre, a building is being grown. Unlike its lifeless neighbours, the concrete structure is encased by
Vietcetera
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20th October 2021
Meet The Architects Using Creative Design To Tackle The Climate Crisis
Furious typhoons hammer the land, triggering torrential downpours and earth-shaking winds. In coastal settlements, some communities sit submerged while others wash away entirely. In the highlands, devastating landslides sever roads and bury farms.
This isn’t an eschatological prophecy, but the reality central Vietnam faced in 2020, an abnormally calamitous year. The press reported that natural disasters – probably exacerbated by the climate crisis – caused $1.6 billion worth of damage, five tim
Chao Hanoi
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18th September 2020
Heritage Repurposed
A blast of thunder detonates over the Hanoi Old Quarter, declaring the imminent arrival of an autumn shower. Specks of water fall like pin pricks as I squeeze through Trung Yen Alley, a narrow ribbon of road linking Hang Be Market with Dinh Liet Street.
The Independent
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21st May 2021
How Architects Are Greening Vietnam’s Hotel Scene
On a diamond-shaped island in southern Vietnam sits a collection of small lagoons enveloped by leafy vines. Adding to the hanging greenery are flourishing frangipani trees blooming with butter yellow champa flowers and bunches of bamboo stalks supporting a lime green canopy. Verdant though it is, this forest isn’t wild. And despite the botanic setting, the lagoons are actually secluded swimming pools.
The Red Bulletin (Red Bull)
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10th November 2020
Bloom Town
As Vietnam’s booming commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City is a whirlwind of chaos. But in the eye of the storm sits a cluster of houses where humans, trees and birds coexist peacefully. People occupy the lower levels, but the roofs are giant plant pots, each with a tree sprouting from a thick layer of soil. Chirping birds nest in their branches, quelling the noisy invasion of traffic and construction.
The Diplomat
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18th June 2020
Hanoi Cafes: The City's Most Important Cultural Spaces
Hanoi, the enigmatic 1000-year-old capital of Vietnam, is a city steeped in legend and layered with intrigue. At the city’s geographical and spiritual heart is the semi-mythical Lake of the Returned Sword, which divides central Hanoi into the chaotic tangle of lanes and alleyways that constitute the Old Quarter to the north, and the grand, tree-lined boulevards that form the French Quarter to the south.
Vietcetera
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29th December 2021
These Architects Are Designing Homes for Vietnam’s Tradition of Multigenerational Living
It was a brutally hot and breezeless summer season in Hue, one of Vietnam's stickiest cities. Lien, who teaches Japanese, had just finished a class and was seeing off her students at the front door. There wasn’t a single drop of rain for over a week that time, so she lingered in the front garden to water her parched hedges and trees. After quenching their thirst, she slipped inside her naturally cool house, flipped on the rice cooker and heated up yesterday’s caramelized pork. She then headed up
Wallpaper*
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7th April 2020
Vietnam’s New Biophilic Architecture Is Going Wild
Picture architecture in Vietnam and you might imagine ancient temples buried down countryside lanes or faded colonial buildings lining the city streets. But spurred by unprecedented economic growth, this Southeast Asian country of almost 100 million is revamping its traditional image – and architecture is part of the overhaul. After decades spent trying to keep Vietnam’s unrelenting jungles out of the cities, visionary architects now harness th
Vietnam Tourism Board
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3rd February 2019
Unearthing Hanoi's Architecture through Cafes
Hanoi’s architecture mirrors the city’s – and the country’s – checkered history. Chinese influence, French inspiration, subsidy phase austerity and modern practicalities have resulted in a compelling jumble of mismatched dwellings. One compelling way to absorb the capital’s architecture is through its lovingly converted cafes. Here are five you simply can’t miss.
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