The invention of the structural materials of steel and reinforced concrete in the nineteenth century allowed modernist architecture to develop in the twentieth century. Unlike classical age buildings that required massive load-bearing masonry walls, walls could be hung like curtains on the structural frame fabricated from those materials. This revolutionized architecture as modernist architects realized the freedom they now had to develop previously inconceivable forms. And the structural frame itself could be part of the design. This hotel in the neighborhood of the airport in Ho Chi MInh City is a clear expression of structure. The columns, intersecting beams, and floor slabs are the prime factor in the design, and simple screens and walls are added to the frame to accommodate the room functions. Add a bit of color and you have an interesting modernist composition.
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20 September 2018
It is the steel or reinforced concrete structural frame that makes modernist buildings possible
A hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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Comments
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Seeing no comments finally prompted me to write to say I enjoy this blog and look forward to your book. I'm glad I occasionally checked for activity on Antidote. I have no training in architecture but I've always been interested in what works, or not, and why. My 18 months in VN were spent largely north of Dinh Quan on QL-20 and I saw only a bit of Saigon when traveling to the airport for R&R but in the countryside the Vietnamese ability to do more with less was impressive and I gradually realized their traditional houses and farmsteads were well planned and efficient in their environment.
Posted by: TJ | 10 October 2018 at 05:20 AM
Thank you, TJ. That is a good observation you made about the traditional houses being well-planned. They learned over a long period of time what works.
I never got north of Dinh Quan on QL-20, but it looked like beautiful country up there. I have since flown to Dalat, though.
I have finished writing and editing the book, which is currently being designed. I hope it will be on Amazon by next January.
-- Mel
Posted by: Mel Schenck | 10 October 2018 at 08:28 AM