Architecture Vietnam

Errata Already

Given my inability to find direct evidence available in Vietnam about mid-century modernist architecture, I am not surprised that errors have already surfaced in our book "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture." I am sure we will find more errors later, but here are three important ones known already:

1. On page 327 of the Vietnam edition of the book, the French-Vietnamese architect for the 95 Pasteur Street apartment building was listed as René Nguyễn Khắc Schéou, as cited in other works about Vietnamese modernism. However, Nghia Nguyen and Thanh Nguyen of the Facebook Vietnamese Modernist Architecture group have both determined, from evidence in the National Archives, that KTS Hoàng Hùng had designed this building.

2. On page 208 of the book, we listed Ngô Viết Thụ as the design architect for the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Thanh Nguyen found paper evidence that a team of five Vietnamese architects assisted with the design. Although unnamed, three of the architects have been identified as Ngô Viết Thụ, Bùi Quang Hanh and possibly Lê Văn Lắm.

3. On page 162, the prominent Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann is named as the designer of the Embassy for Cambodia at what is now 185 Cách Mạng Tháng Tám Street. Nguyễn Ngọc Sơn has now found significant evidence that Vietnamese architect Hoàng Hùng was responsible for this design.

The best news here is that Vietnamese researchers are now combing through the National Archives and other sources to prove the facts of the development of mid-century Vietnamese modernist architecture.

Defining Modernist Architecture

Architects and aficionados of modernist architecture may wonder why we need to define modernist architecture early in our book, since everybody knows what it is, right? We have found that there is plenty of disagreement about modernist architecture amongst architects, especially regarding the International Style. Most importantly, non-architects often do not know at all what modernist architecture is, confusing it with modern architecture or classical architecture.

Therefore our book, "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture," contains a chapter defining global modernist architecture. We discuss this up first in the book so that when we get to the chapter defining Vietnamese modernist architecture, the basis is set to compare them and show the differences.

Photo: Rietveld-Schröder House, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1924

Photo source: Luctor, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rietveld-Schröderhuis.jpg, public domain

Review of "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture"

Ed Haysom, an Australian architect and part-time resident of Vietnam for many years, has written many articles in the past about Vietnamese architecture and urban planning. Now he has written a good review of "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" for publication in Australia. With his permission, we present it below:

 

This is an important book. 

It draws attention to a little discussed part of Saigon’’s history - its modernist buildings 

The book is a comprehensive documentation of these buildings and demonstrates clearly why these buildings are important texturally and culturally to Ho Chi Minh City and to the country. Many of them are now at risk because they are perceived as “old” but not “that old” - that in between period when people cannot see their value. 

The evolution of this modernism in Vietnam is fascinatingly explained by Mel Schenck. Modernist architecture took root in France through the work of Le Corbusier. Its growth, like many other art forms in the 20th century was catalysed by technology, the development of the elevator and electric lighting. 

Modernism reached Vietnam at a time of great economic growth and its elements were easily understood and constructed. Modernism relied less on craftsmanship and more on the assembly of components. The climatic lessons learned by the previous generation of architects in Vietnam were passed on to the 20th century practitioners who were able to design buildings with double skins and sunshading. The Vietnamese architects were quick to adapt modernism to their own ends and express Vietnamese aspirations and culture while still working within budget constraints and deadlines 

These modernist buildings illustrated in the book with their bris soleil have made an enormous contribution to the city. 

In the 19th Century an architect would not be able to design a building without adding texture to the exterior because both the market and the clients expected it. Building texture comes from the building’s form and the expression of that form using shadows and patterns that not only give relief to the building but also allowing the building form to subtly change during the day. 

As Mel Schenck describes and Alexandre Garel illustrates, Ho Chi Minh City is full of buildings that are fine examples of this. The texture of these older buildings took the form of balconies and self- shading devices designed to keep the sun off the facade of the building. This provided a rich texture and delivered an attractive cityscape. Their successors with their imported curtain walls and heavy reliance on air conditioning are inferior to these buildings. The net result is building blandness as the texture is removed and only the rectangular building form remains 

There could almost be a companion volume to this - much slimmer - made available to HCMC’s political leaders. Slimmer because they will not read - although they should - this comprehensive volume 

It also should be on the bookshelf of any architect practicing in Vietnam 

Ed Haysom June 2020