Architecture Vietnam

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.

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.

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.

A Perceptive Book Review of "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture"

Vietnamese architect Bùi Thúc Đạt has published a wonderful review of our book, and he captures the essence of the book in his review. You can find his original review in Vietnamese language in the Vietnamese Modernist Architecture group on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VietnameseModernistArchitecture/posts/4052198078190848/

 

Here is a rough translation from Google Translate into English language of his review:

Book Review

by Bùi Thúc Đạt

Architecture books published in Vietnam are mostly picture books with brief explanations or research books on Vietnamese traditional architecture, but Mel Schenck's book is an exception. Not only writing about modern Vietnamese architecture, but moreover, the author has clarified an architectural style that has been created and developed by generations of talented Vietnamese architects from 1954 to 1975, modern architecture in southern Vietnam.

The book is written in English with the title "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture- Mid-century Vernacular Modernism". Instead of focusing on introducing and describing works, the author approaches the problem by stringing together historical bases and architectural forms to identify and clarify Southern Modernism in Vietnam.

The content of the book can be divided into 3 main parts including historical origins, architectural features and modernism in indigenous architecture.

The first part of the book deals with the historical context, formation and factors affecting modern Vietnamese architecture. In this section, the author discusses the traditional architecture of Vietnam, the colonial architecture brought and recreated by the French in Vietnam as well as the architectural trends in the world at that time and their impact on the world. Modern Vietnamese architecture. In particular, the author has spent an important part referring to the early Modernist Architecture period in Vietnam - the period of the last French architects in Vietnam - such as architect Paul Veysseyre, Architect Arthur Kruze, ... and the first class of Vietnamese architects - such as Architect Nguyen Van Ninh, Architect Truong Ngo Phu, Architect Huynh Tan Phat, ... collaborated on architectural projects. Following that is the transformation of architecture in Vietnam from Art Deco-style buildings to the first modernist works.

The second part accounts for two-thirds of the book and is also the most important part, referring to the unique characteristics of modern South Vietnamese architecture. The opening is the image of the golden age of modern Southern architecture with the appearance of a generation of talented Vietnamese architects such as Architect Nguyen Van Hoa, Architect Vu Ba Dinh, Architect Pham Van Thang, Architect Nguyen Quang Nhac, Architect To Cong Van, Architect Ngo Viet Thu,... In this section, modern architectural works were selected from many typical areas of South Vietnam at that time such as Saigon, Da Lat, Quy Nhon , the Mekong Delta,... and classified by the author according to the characteristics of modern Southern Vietnamese architectural style. The modern architecture of South Vietnam in the period 1954-1975 is rarely deepened and presented thoroughly in books on Fine Arts & Architecture published in Vietnam, so the author Mel Schenck's identification and digging depth and presentation of modern southern architecture through classification method based on architectural characteristics, is a special thing.

The last part of the book deals with indigenous houses throughout South Vietnam. What is interesting here is that the sphere of influence of modernism extended from the big cities to the countryside, where it is often considered difficult to open up to new Architectural-Arts movements. According to the author, this has never happened anywhere in the world, even in the United States, France or Japan, etc., which have many modernist monuments.

The most unfortunate thing is that most of the works in the book have been or are planned to be demolished. It is clear that looking at Modern Architecture in Southern Vietnam, we admire the creativity and intelligence of generations of Vietnamese architects, but we also cannot help but regret the fate of modern architecture in Southern Vietnam when fall into the fracturing of postwar politics and culture. However, from the books of Mel Schenck or Thierry Delfosse,... we still have hope that the value of modernist architecture in South Vietnam will be properly recognized as well as preserved with its role as a heritage of architecture and art of the Vietnamese people.

"Poetic Significance: Sài Gòn Mid-Century Modernist Architecture"

Architecture Vietnam Books is pleased to announce the publishing of the book "Poetic Significance: Sài Gòn Mid-Century Modernist Architecture" by Phạm Phú Vinh. This is the first book written about Vietnamese modernist architecture from the mid-century by a Vietnamese author. This book is published in English and is available internationally in most online bookstores such as Amazon. A Vietnamese-language version of this book will be published later this year in Vietnam.

This is a philosophical book with beautiful writing that presents the theory of how Vietnamese people embraced modernist architecture for their vernacular houses. It is illustrated with beautiful black and white architectural photography produced by Mr. Vinh. This book does not repeat the overview of Vietnamese modernist architecture provided in our book "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture," but rather compliments our book by filling in the gap between modernism and Vietnamese traditional architecture. Phạm Phú Vinh shows that the Vietnamese people understood why they liked and revered Vietnamese traditional architecture for its definition of Vietnamese identity that they then extended to their new modernist vernacular architecture.

We are honored to have been given the opportunity to edit this book and publish it so the value of Vietnamese modernist architecture becomes known around the world.

Saigon Portrait of a City

Alexandre Garel has followed up the beautiful modernist architectural photography featured in our book, "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" by publishing a full-color photo book entitled "Saigon Portrait of a City." In this large-format book, Alexandre presents the scope of the megacity of Saigon, with Vietnamese architecture representing all of the periods of architecture that makes Ho Chi Minh City such a rich environment. His passion for this city really stands out in this luxurious book. Commentary on the city as well as the photo captions were written by the eminent historian Tim Doling. You can buy signed copies of this beautiful photo book on Alexandre’s website: https://www.alexandregarel.com/saigon-portrait-of-a-city

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.

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

The Vietnam version of "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture: Mid-century Vernacular Modernism" is now in bookstores

Thế Giới Publishers of Hanoi has released the Vietnam version of the book and it is now in Hanoi bookstores. It should be in Ho Chi Minh City bookstores next week.

This version is a black-and-white paperback with 456 pages, using the same text (in English) and architectural photography as in the international version. The list price is 320,000 VND.

Updating the "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" int'l version availability

We are giving up on amazon.com in America as a source for our book, "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture: Mid-century Vernacular Modernism," published by Architecture Vietnam Books for international distribution. The book is currently on amazon.com through a third-party vendor that is offering it as a "used book" for a price that is 54% higher than the list price! But you may find a different price if you go there, given how their algorithm works.

We recommend barnesandnoble.com in the USA, as well as several online bookstores including alibris.com and abebooks.com. It is also available at international online stores including amazon.ca in Canada, amazon.com.au in Australia, amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr in France, amazon.de in Germany, bookdepository.com in the UK, and booktopia.com.au in Australia. The ISBN number is 9780578516585. All of these links should take you directly to the book.

The international version is a print-on-demand 8-1/2"-square format full-color trade paperback, which is ideal for featuring Alexandre Garel's superb architectural photography. That means that if you order it at an online bookstore, it will then be printed by IngramSpark at one of their worldwide printing plants and shipped by them to you.

We will post an announcement shortly about the availability of the separate version of this book (in black-and-white) that has been published by Thế Giới Publishers of Hanoi for distribution in Vietnam.

The international version of "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" is published

Photographer Alexandre Garel and Author Mel Schenck are proud to announce that "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture" has been published in America for international distribution. It is currently available on Barnes & Noble as well as several online bookstores. It isn’t up on Amazon.com yet, but we keep hoping it will pop up any time now. It is also available at several international online stores including Amazon Australia. The ISBN number is 978-0-578-51658-5.

This book is a print-on-demand 8-1/2"-square format full-color trade paperback. That means that if you order it at an online bookstore, it will then be printed by IngramSpark and shipped by them to you. This book will also be available through Ingram at retail bookstores and libraries, assuming they decide to carry such a small-niche book.

Our friends in Vietnam should wait a couple of weeks when a separate version of this book (in black-and-white) will be published by Thế Giới Publishers of Hanoi for distribution only in Vietnam.

Producing an architecture book

It takes a long time to produce an architecture book, including the "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture: Mid-century Vernacular Modernism" book. I hadn’t realized that the time in production often exceeds the time for writing. Alexandre Garel’s beautiful architectural photography had to be retouched and prepared for printing, and the book itself had to be designed and laid out. But we are getting close to publication now since all of these things are completed. Thanks to Mads Monsen of Studio MadsMonsen, the international version of the book will be very beautiful and modernist. His photograph of the simulated book is shown above.

The book will be published in two different versions. The text and the photographs will be the same, but the format size and printing will be different.

The international version will be a full-color large-format trade paperback printed by IngramSpark of America and distributed through Ingram, the largest distributor of books in the world. They will wholesale the book to brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries, as well as all the online outlets around the world including Amazon.com. This version of the book should be on sale by mid-May.

I am pleased to announce that Thế Giới Publishers of Hanoi is producing a black-and-white trade paperback version for sale in Vietnam. I believe that they will release the book in a couple of months, and I will keep you informed about the sales date.

I am excited to offer this book for your consideration, and I think it will answer many questions about the definitions, extent, and quality of Vietnamese mid-century modernist architecture.