Architecture Vietnam

Welcome to Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture

Bata Shoe Factory, Ho Chi Minh City

Mel Schenck and photographer Alexandre Garel welcome you to view the extraordinary modernist architecture of southern Vietnam.

Our book "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" features beautiful architectural photography that illustrates the outstanding accomplishment of the people of southern Vietnam in developing a mid-century modernist architecture that is extraordinary in the world.

Over the past eight decades of architectural history since the Japanese occupation of Vietnam in WWII, southern Vietnamese architects developed a version of modernist architecture that accommodated the tropical climate and reflected the identity of a newly independent nation.

The vast quantity and quality of Vietnamese modernist architecture constructed throughout southern Vietnam made it a center of modernism in the world. Most importantly, the southern Vietnamese as a culture embraced modernism, and it became the vernacular architecture of the culture, especially for dwellings.

Architectural historians, aficionados of modernist architecture, and anyone interested in Vietnamese culture will find that this book is a positive story about Vietnamese aspirations for independence and the value of modernist architecture in living in the world today.

An Epic Loss of Vietnamese Identity and Heritage

The former BATA Shoe Factory at 419 or 430 Lê Hồng Phong Street in District Ten is being demolished as I post this.

This is a sad day for me personally because this building was my favorite heritage modernist building, and Alexandre Garel’s beautiful photo of this building illustrated the cover of my book about Vietnamese modernist architecture. This is a sad day for Vietnam too, since it has again lost an important piece of its identity and heritage.

It was an industrial building, but nevertheless care and talent were expended by Vietnamese architects in designing a building that represented Vietnamese modernist architecture and identity at the mid-century. But being an industrial building, we usually expect that they have a limited life as industrial needs change. Thus they are subject to demolition.

However, in this age of global warming where carbon byproducts create conditions for that warming, it is important to limit further carbon emissions. One of the best ways to do this is to save the results of past carbon use so new carbon emissions can be limited. Buildings like the BATA factory represent ‘embodied carbon’ that can be reused in order to save the emissions necessary to build a new building. The BATA factory could have been easily adapted for use as a school or many other uses.

The BATA factory building is now lost as an important marker of Vietnamese identity and heritage, and could have been saved through its adaptive reuse.

An article comparing Vietnamese modernist architecture with other decolonized countries

I was commissioned by the Vietnamese Architects Association to write a scholarly article for their magazine,  Tạp chí Kiến trúc, số 8-2024. I chose to write a comparison of Vietnamese modernist architecture, from the mid-century after independence, with architecture around the global south after decolonization. This was based upon the results of the “Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence” exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London over the summer of 2024.

While much of the modernist architecture in decolonized global south countries involved foreign architects, Vietnamese modernist architecture was entirely produced by Vietnamese architects and people. The Vietnamese architects and the people succeeded in developing a tropical modernist architecture that reflects Vietnamese identity. Now they must succeed in protecting this amazing heritage so that memory of identity provides a basis for the future.

Thank you to KTS Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn of the University of Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City for inviting me to write this article.

The publication is in Vietnamese, and you can find it here:  https://www.tapchikientruc.com.vn/chuyen-muc/su-khac-biet-cua-viet-nam-so-voi-kien-truc-hien-dai-toan-cau-thoi-ky-hau-thuoc-dia.html

My original English version can be found here:  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/y28lj1jw6qovtupxutfzn/VAA-Article-in-English.pdf?rlkey=34yg9g0h6473et69qsvsyp6re&dl=0

 

The Heritage of the Saigon School of Architecture

On 30 November 2024, KTS Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn presented a detailed outline of the history of the Saigon School of Architecture, 1944-1976, as well a biography of the life of architect and educator Nguyễn Quang Nhạc. The audience at IDECAF for this event included family members of KTS Nhạc and many former students and teachers from the school.

The original department of architecture of the Fine Arts College in Hanoi was relocated to Da Lat during the Japanese Occupation of World War II. The period of its successor, the Saigon School of Architecture (under various names), includes the times in Da Lat beginning in 1944 and post war until 1950, when the school was relocated to Saigon. In 1976, it became the University of Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City at the same location at 196 Pasteur Street in District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Saigon School of Architecture was the center for development of Vietnamese modernist architecture that reflected Vietnamese identity. Vietnamese architect Nguyễn Quang Nhạc is regarded as one of the foremost architects of the mid-century in southern Vietnam in the mid-century as well as the foremost educator as Director of the Saigon School of Architecture for several years.

Over several years KTS Sơn carried out detailed and extensive research to compile this history and biography, including several artifacts belonging to KTS Nhạc. KTS Sơn should be commended for his amazing achievement. We should all look forward to seeing the results of this research someday in the form of a book or books.

The Future of Homes

Honored to have been selected by Editoriale Domus S.p.A., the prestigious design publication from Italy, to write about the Labri House in Hue, Vietnam. Designed by Architect Khai Nguyen of Nguyen Khai Architects and Associates, this stunning holistic design represents the future of house designs. This article is available in the April 2024 edition of Domus, focusing on the future of the home, edited by Sir Norman Foster.

Published in Domus n. 1089, 2024 - Courtesy of Archivio Domus - © Editoriale Domus S.p.A.

Collaboration with the Tản Mạn Kiến Trúc Group

I have been very pleased recently to collaborate with the Tản Mạn Kiến Trúc group to make two presentations about the new Vietnamese translation of my book “Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture”. This group of young scholars and architects has developed a strong organization to help raise the awareness of the value of heritage architecture in Vietnam. Their presentations and published materials are very professionally accomplished and they have developed a large following.

I want to thank Trương Trần Trung Hiếu of the Tản Mạn Kiến Trúc group for organizing, coordinating, and doing the translation of my presentations. Through his efforts, we met our goal to reach out to Vietnamese young people, who will now make a difference in the community for protection of this heritage architecture.

The Tản Mạn Kiến Trúc group website is at https://www.tanmankientruc.org/gioi-thieu and their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/tanmankientruc

Vietnamese-language Version of the book "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture"

Alexandre Garel and I are proud to announce the publication of the Vietnamese translation of our book as “Kiến Trúc Hiện Đại Miền Nam Viet Nam”. It is available in Phương Nam bookstores in Vietnam as two large-format color versions: a hardcover version and a softcover version. We are very grateful to Ms. Candy Nguyen for translating the book for the Phương Nam Book Company, and to KTS Bùi Thúc Đạt for reviewing the book under tight time constraints, and Nghia Đinh for proofreading.

In my book “Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture”, there are 148 buildings located in Ho Chi Minh City alone, and of these, 11 have been demolished (that I know of) and 27 more buildings are in immediate danger of demolition. So this book stands as a record of the accomplishment of the Vietnamese people in developing this stunning architecture in the mid-twentieth century. We are now rapidly losing this legacy and identity. Therefore we hope this book is a catalyst for raising the awareness of the heritage values of this architecture.

Raising Awareness of Vietnamese Modernist Architecture

Vietnamese journalist Nguyên Vân has published a good summary of our “Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture” book in one of the mainstream newspapers here in Vietnam, Thanh Niên. It can be viewed at the following link (in Vietnamese language):  

https://thanhnien.vn/kien-truc-su-nguoi-my-va-50-nam-say-me-kien-truc-hien-dai-mien-nam-viet-nam-post1541455.html?fbclid=IwAR2-ikiy3Mt7H2iwAXeUKM-ik7pNi5zqxGuHanDjOIobXEaySy64fHXZx6g

Mr. Vân attended our Vietnamese-language version book launch event on 12 January here in Ho Chi Minh City to gather information for his article. Following is a Google Translate version of his article in English:

 

American architect and 50 years of passion for modern South Vietnamese architecture

By Nguyên Vân

Published 13 January 2023

In THANH NIÊN Newspaper

Vietnamese people have every right to be proud of their different version of modern architecture because they have succeeded in developing an architectural style that clearly shows the national identity.

That is the opinion of Mel Schenck, an American architect with more than 50 years of experience in managing the design, construction of complex planning and construction projects. The book Modern Architecture of Southern Vietnam by Mel Schenck and photographer Alexandre Garel has just been released as proof of that statement, as well as to introduce the history of this achievement to Vietnamese people everywhere and to the whole world.

This is the third edition of this book. The first version is the international edition published in April 2020 (paperback, color print). The 2nd edition of World Publishing House released in May 2020 (black and white paperback in English). The 3rd edition is the Vietnamese edition published by Phuong Nam Book in 2022 (a few omissions have been corrected and added in this Vietnamese, paperback and hardcover edition).

Big Love

Architect Mel Schenck has resided in Vietnam since 2006, having studied Vietnamese modern architecture right from the first encounter. “I was extremely surprised at the size and quality of them in Saigon when I was here from 1971 to 1972. At that time, I had just graduated from an architecture school in the US for a year, so I felt like I was lost in the world. paradise of architecture”, he said at a book introduction session yesterday on January 12 at Nam Thi House, Ho Chi Minh City.

Talking to readers, Mel Schenck said that the book, made in the last few years, is the fruit of his great and persistent love for modern South Vietnamese architecture from 50 years ago.

“Vietnamese people are gradually losing their own legacies, which could have been left to future generations to continue to admire and appreciate their value.” — Architect Mel Schenck

Regarding this book, architect Dam Vu acknowledges: "Under the sharp perspective of an experienced architect in the US, with the sharp thinking of an in-depth researcher who has lived in Vietnam for many years. , Mel Schenck has brought to domestic and foreign readers a valuable source of analytical data about modern architectural works here. Through each carefully crafted page, the architectural legacies of the Vietnamese generation of architects in the golden age will partly help us to better visualize the characteristics of modern architecture with bold imprints. Vietnamese".

Not only that, as shared by author Mel Schenck, all images in the book were captured by photographer Alexandre Garel (born in France, living in Ho Chi Minh City since 2011) during her creative activities in Vietnam. and France as a photojournalist, travel photographer, and architecture photographer. “His love of the city and heritage architecture is reflected in the unique photographs in this book,” says author Mel Schenck.

Are Vietnamese people losing their heritage?

Mel Schenck said he has selected more than 150 modern architectural works in Vietnam in the mid-20th century to introduce in the book, based on a database of more than 400 works and is still updating new findings every day.

“It is surprising that until recently, no Vietnamese or international authors have paid attention to the architecture of this period. The analytical study of this architectural style would have been more convenient if we had a foundation to do it," he said, citing the scarcity of archival materials as well as the inability to find them fully. sufficient facts even if they exist, “we will be held responsible for any unavoidable errors or misunderstandings contained in this book.”

Accordingly, the book is a professional synthesis - research and cataloging of architectural works based on their aesthetic and social values. However, because the data is not found or there are conflicting sources, the names of architects and construction dates are also omitted from most of the projects in the book.

The author also added, of the architectural works included in the book, currently 11 have been demolished and 27 other works are on the verge of being destroyed. "Vietnamese people are gradually losing their own legacies, which could have been left to future generations to continue to admire and appreciate their value," he said, referring to a Among the works, according to him, is very regrettable, when demolished, is the building at 30 Phung Khac Khoan (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). This was originally built with the function of a villa or an embassy in the diplomatic district of the city. “Unfortunately, the building was demolished before this book was printed,” says author Mel Schenck.

END

Student Responses to Vietnamese Modernism

Vietnamese architect Nguyễn Khiêm teaches a class at the University of Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City, in addition to practicing architecture at his own firm. In a recent classroom exercise at the university, he instructed the students to read and analyze a Vietnamese translation of a presentation I had put together to exhibit my ideas about Vietnamese modernist architecture from the mid-twentieth century. KTS Khiem has published two of the student responses so far on Facebook, and the responses are what I had always hoped for — an increasing awareness amongst Vietnamese of the tremendous accomplishment of the Vietnamese people in developing this modernist architecture on their own.

The first student response can be found at this link, in Vietnamese language:  https://www.facebook.com/nkhiem/posts/pfbid02mx6yJAGwY4owd2dWLRT42URmYRVnS6khUC7VQRZaZzRSWtZNkwh7paWhhGAaHZhgl

I am especially gratified in this response that the student now realizes that the modernist architecture in Vietnam was not produced by foreign architects, and now sees that Vietnamese modernist architecture is stronger than global modernist architecture. The student was happily surprised that the Vietnamese people themselves had developed Vietnamese identity in their vernacular houses.

The second student response can be found at this link, in Vietnamese language:  https://www.facebook.com/nkhiem/posts/pfbid0YSXGaUbFkkYeobS1axrCkTq5LXoUGvHykdph82XKUqc3XxNQYfJCAxFMWSkhUsWHl

This student was reacting to a statement the student had heard from many architects that "Vietnam has no characteristics of architecture”, and the student now realizes that Vietnamese modernist architecture, developed by Vietnamese themselves, is a much richer version of modernism than the global modernist architecture seen around the world, and therefore Vietnam does have its own characteristic architecture.

I am happy that the student questioned whether a foreign architect like myself could determine accurately Vietnamese identity in this modernist architecture. By visiting the buildings mentioned my book, the student came to the conclusion that I had adequately done so.

The Values of Heritage Conservation

My second article, this one on the values of heritage conservation, was published by the magazine TiaSáng this month, in Vietnamese language, and can be read at this link: https://tiasang.com.vn/tin-noi-bat/tieu-diem/bao-ton-di-san-bao-ve-can-tinh-viet-nam/ TiaSáng is a publication of the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology. The original English-language version can be read or downloaded from Google Drive at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uB3lcsF7I_kIYtSM4WVimI9SVxsdhipa/view?usp=sharing

Here is the lede paragraph for this article:

“The article entitled “Kiến Trúc Hiện Đại: Giá trị riêng của Việt Nam” [Modernist Architecture: Vietnam’s Own Values] published in volume number 17 of TiaSáng Magazine on 5 September 2022 presented the values of mid-century Vietnamese modernist architecture which expressed Vietnamese identity as traditional architecture did in the past. And this Vietnamese-developed architecture continues to express the value of Vietnamese aspirations and their strong place in the world today. Nevertheless, this architecture is in increasing danger of being demolished, with the accompanying loss of Vietnamese identity. What can Vietnam do to protect its heritage and identity?”

The Values of Vietnamese Modernist Architecture

Mel is pleased that his article on the values of Vietnamese modernist architecture has been published by TiaSáng Magazine, the publication of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Vietnam. I wrote the article in English, of course, and they translated it to Vietnamese for publication. You can find the Vietnamese-language version of the article on their website at https://tiasang.com.vn/van-hoa/kien-truc-hien-dai-gia-tri-rieng-cua-viet-nam/

Here is the lede paragraph for this article:

“Over the ages of history, architecture has represented the values of the civilizations in all parts of the world. Heritage architecture has great value because it tells us who we were and are, and how social or national identities have grown or changed. The mid-twentieth century was a particularly important time period for defining or representing Vietnam’s identity after colonialism. Vietnamese architects adapted global modernism to reflect Vietnamese identity in a newly-independent culture. Vietnamese modernist architecture therefore has great value in showing Vietnamese people and the people of world the strong identity and values of a strong nation.”

You can read or download the English-language version of this article from Google Drive at

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zd76_2nv7TqsoPXMaJ9a5Pg3ehHG7KY_/view?usp=sharing