Architecture

To Be One With Nature

November 5, 2021

Looking at your homeland from a fresh perspective or a stranger’s point of view can incite many emotions within a person. Some may see opportunities while others may realise they have outgrown their homeland and no longer fit in. For Vo Trong Nghia, the renowned Vietnamese architect who left for Japan in 1996 to pursue his architectural education, he only saw great opportunity and the chance to start something new when he returned to Vietnam a decade later.

To him, it felt like a city of endless possibilities where a lot of things were waiting to be done and if at all there were any elements lacking in a city it would be the lack of trees and greenery, as Vietnam at that point was experiencing massive development and urbanization that would soon lead to a boom in concrete jungles and traffic jams. After completing his tertiary education at first the National Institute of Technology Ishikawa College and then Nagoya Institute of Technology (Meikodai), Nghia returned to Ho Chi Minh in 2006 and established the eponymous design studio.

Fast forward to the present, and now the Vo Trong Nghia (VTN) Architects has close to some 60 people with a multitude of awards to speak of their work. VTN Architects infuses its work with lushly planted walls, hanging vines, structure-piercing trees, weathered stones, and sunken landscapes. It also incorporates traditional Vietnamese building techniques, like complex bamboo trusses, perforated blocks, cooling water systems, shaded terraces, and thatched roofs. VTN Architects is also expanding into prefab housing, urban farms, green towers, parks, and urban plans around Asia. All these efforts are infused with a resolute vision: the creation of Green Architecture that merges nature, local vernacular, and — through modern materials and methods — contemporary design. VTN Architects sees such work as a way not only to refine the urban environment but also to provide a sense of peace in the world.

As the recipient of the Prince Claus Award, The ARCASIA Awards Gold Medal, the Architectural Review House Award, and the Green Good Design Award among others, Nghia comes across as a humble personality and a man of simple needs – traits he developed over the course of two years when he led a monastic lifestyle and practiced meditation at the Pa-Auk Tawya Meditation Center, a Buddhist monastery in the forests of Myanmar.

“The last two years or so has led me to become in tune with the spiritual side within me as life at the monastery requires meditation while adhering to the strict 5 moral precepts – no telling lies, no committing murder, no committing adultery, no smoking and no drinking. The two years that I spent at the monastery were life changing and beneficial to my personal and professional life” said Nghia who is married and blessed with a child. “Meditating allows us to concentrate and with deep concentration, there is clarity to the mind that eases work and increases productivity,” added Nghia.

Upon returning to his firm, Nghia’s perception and outlook towards work and life changed and he wanted everyone at his firm to learn and gain from it as well so now everyone at VTN Architects meditate at least two hours a day, and they are hired only if they can adopt the five moral doctrines. Initially, when he implemented it right after returning to the firm, Nghia conceded that almost 80% of his staff left as they couldn’t follow the 5 precepts to the tee. Nghia had to replace team members who had left during the Covid-19 pandemic and it was challenging.

Speaking about his firm and love for architecture, Nghia said while he doesn‘t have a signature style at VTN Architects, he loves nature and with that he decided to combine his love for architecture and nature to help society form a connection between the duo by bringing nature back into the city. To Nghia, architecture isn‘t all about being aesthetic but it also needs to be the medium to connect people with earth and greenery.

“All of my projects need to harmonize with the surrounding society and its culture and more importantly, there needs to be ample of trees and lush greenery that would remind people of parks. We use bamboo, timber, stone and more. We use trees, and not as decoration but as an essential element of architecture. Some people build a building and put trees on top. We want trees, and all natural materials, to interact with the building,” concluded Nghia pensively.

For more information please visit vtnarchitects.net

AR VO TRONG NGHIA

Vo Trong Nghia was born in Vietnam in 1976. He is an architect certified by the government of Vietnam. In 1996, he left for Japan to pursue a tertiary education in architecture. Nghia then returned to Vietnam and opened his studio where he researched building methods that employ bamboo structures. Nghia’s studio promotes works that allow humans to be more connected to nature. The multi-award winner, who in recent times have taken up meditation, is a simple man with simple needs.

AFTER HOURS

What’s your poison?
Water and Tea
Favourite hangout spot?
Home, Office, and the
Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Myanmar
The place to go for authentic local cuisine?
I don’t like crowded spaces so I prefer to take my
meals at home.

THE JETSETTER

Most memorable stay?
Chicland Hotel, Da Nang
Biggest splurge?
Toyota
Your holiday fashion?
T-shirt and jeans