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.
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