How to see modernist buildings

Seaprodex Building, 4 Đồng Khởi Street, Ho Chi Minh City

Humans continuously search for novelty. As we walk along Đồng Khởi street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, we see the magnificent old colonial Grand Hotel. We see the new high-rise towers simply because of their size. What we don’t see, even though we walk right by them, are the majority of the buildings downtown: the modernist office and apartment buildings. HCMC is blessed by many excellent modernist buildings like the Seaprodex Building on the right in the photo. We don’t see them because they are so prevalent in HCMC, and they serve their purpose without flashy curves. Next time you walk along this street, take a closer look at this building. It features many fine modernist details, like the four-floors-high chevron-shaped sunscreen above the entry and the scalloped canopy.