Vietnam’s economy and society are on a strong development momentum. We are overwhelmed by the architectural works, changing the face of both urban cities and remote areas every day. How do architectural works retain their cultural identity in the place where they are located? How can each building be a thread connecting the past and the present? That is a big challenge, a big mission of A79 architects.
Contemporary Vietnamese architecture painting
When it comes to contemporary Vietnamese architecture, we can see a “forest” of buildings rising up through the time, from the central city to the localities, even remote areas, annually attracting millions of tourists.
One day, Hanoians seem to realize that the capital is no longer romantic and charming as it was in the past, or that Sa Pa no longer retains its pure innocence… All has been replaced by high-rise concrete buildings covered in sunlight; bare, stiff highways crashed into the landscape.
Poet Che Lan Vien once wrote: “When we live, the land is a place to live, when we leave, it turns into a soul”. Each land has its own soul and is created from many factors: history, native people, natural conditions to architecture, culture… When it comes to the identity of an urban place, not just sand, gravel, concrete and blocks, identity is the spirit, the soul of that place.
Despite regretting the past, urbanization is still an irreversible process, we are still racing on a one-way train and cannot return to the old position.
How do architectural works retain their cultural identity in the place where they are located? How can each building be a thread connecting the past and the present? That is a big challenge, a big mission of A79 architects.
What to learn from the contemporary architectural perspective of the famous Japanese architect – Prof. Shin Takamatsu?
“Let’s learn from the past” – A brief but thoughtful sharing of Arch Shin Takamatsu’s career journey, when he attended a seminar on Contemporary Vietnamese Architecture with A79.
Prof. Shin Takamatsu is well-known as an architect of nonexistent structures. He is famous for his horrifying hand drawings, futuristic constructions, metaphorical details and industrial machinery. His works are like fortresses, highly symbolic, closed to the surrounding space because he thinks: “Architecture is a symbol. Symbolism has its beauty and creates moments of appreciation that can make people burst into tears.”
Undeniably, whether it is symbolic architecture or architecture of life, it honestly reflects the times. Therefore, all architectural works need to learn from the past, inherit the good and beautiful things to create suitable architectural works in the present.
For Arch Takamatsu, inheriting traditional values is not only using classic materials or shapes, but through metaphors of details, light and dark space, sometimes like a collection of an extra-architectural detail grafted onto the surface.
Discussing the mission of A79 with contemporary Vietnamese architecture
A79 was born in the era that Vietnam’s socio-economic development is on the rise, the urbanization is getting faster and faster. Therefore, architecture must first be ‘responsive’, that is its original instinct. At the same time, it is always necessary to be creative to adapt to all general changes of society, industry and era, including science and technology.
In spite of A79’s operating independently, the spirit and thinking “One step ahead” always lives inside A79 and the architects team to create breakthrough works, thereby creating new lifestyles for the community such as green architecture, smart architecture. In addition, a number of A79’s major projects including cultural and urban works have been, are and will be “architecturalized” so that they become works of pure art instead of only technical works, an aspiration towards creating iconic works of the era.
Chairman of the Board of Directors – Mr. Nguyen Tuan Hai shared about the mission and vision of A79
In the seminar, the Board of Directors as well as all architects and engineers of A79 also shared a big dream. A79 does not only bring top-notch architectural works to serve the Vietnamese people, but also wishes to “bring the bell to beat the country, reach out to the world.”
