Antidote to Burnout

HCMC House 13

The modernist house shown below is very simple in form and execution.

It is definitely not minimalist, though. The yellow accent color contrasted with the black facade at the lower floor provide plenty of interest in this composition. Since the lot is skewed to the street, the designer could add articulation in the facade with a projecting side and a receding side. Other than the articulation and the accent colors, this is a very fine simple composition. I would be proud to live here.

Unlike most Saigon houses, the entry floor architecture is part of the composition. Usually the lower floor is a commercial space so the entry facade is totally unrelated to the facade composition above. In this case, the house is not on a commercial street and therefore the entry is an integral part of family life in this house.
This house is on 14th Street (Đường Số 14) in District 6 of Ho Chi Minh City.

Questions about modernist architecture

avo provided some very thought-provoking questions about modernist architecture for houses in Vietnam on my posting of HCMC House 12.  Rather than provide a response back in the comments to the posting, I want to publish it here for greater visibility as well as to get back into posting about Vietnamese modernist architecture.

avo asked "does any of those angle facade elements have anything to do with the surrounding environment?" The direct answer is no, which is typical of modernist architecture for houses in southern Vietnam.  The surrounding environment is usually more houses of the same form and height.  Since the only exposed part of these houses is the street facade, the style of architecture can be expressed here and therefore can reflect the tastes of the owner or the architect or contractor.  Some of these houses will have traditional styles, while many will be modernist.  While the choice of a traditional style can be considered to be an emotional choice (at least I see it that way), a modernist composition becomes much more intellectual in the many choices that must be made regarding materials, finishes, textures, forms, lines, and colors.  In the traditional style, these choices are prescribed by the style itself.

In this case, the architect's organizing principle is the composition of angled forms and the warped surfaces.  The only objective is to make a pleasing composition using the window and door framing within the openings.  This leads to avo's implied question in this statement: "The house might have its own appearance (maybe a different look with other typical Vietnamese "tube" house), but modernist architecture might have been gone deeper into functional rather than aesthetic look."  That is historically true of modernist architecture -- "form follows function" has been a major principle of modernism.  In this case, the architect has brought the exterior skin in front of the structural frame to address the function of keeping the weather out of the house while allowing views out.  But this function must be accommodated in every house.  What is different and important here is the intellectual choices made to carry out an unusual idea about the warping of surfaces.

avo also asked if the design of House 12 depends on "uses of occupations? or nothing but just the style of the architect?" I believe the style of the architect is the architecture of House 12.  As I have stated above, the principles of Vietnamese modernist architecture for townhouses deal with resolving the functions of structure, weather proofing, ventilation, views, and light for the house, but most importantly, involves presentation of an intellectual idea that is expressed in the composition of the facade.  I have not determined any differences in modernist facades that indicate either an occupation of a home-owner or of any commercial activities that might occur in the house.  On the other hand, the ground floor facade of houses along busy streets does relate mostly to the commercial activities on the ground floor, and usually has nothing to do with the design of the house above.

HCMC House 12

Back to a series focusing on individual modernist houses in Ho Chi Minh City.

This house is an interesting experiment in warping the usual rectilinear frame of Vietnamese modernist houses.

Vietnamese architects spend time reviewing site lines to make sure that design elements beyond the facade work well in the composition -- in this case the roof terrace trellis is an integral part of the warping of lines and fits right in, taking the eye back from the facade.

As is usual in Vietnamese houses, the ground floor facade has nothing to do with the design above.  Ground floor facades are strictly commercial, and this one will eventually be covered with a commercial treatment that fits it particular use.  When the typical Vietnamese house is only 4 meters wide (13.1 feet), there is no room for a separate entry to the house.  These houses are typically entered through the commercial store to a stairway in the back.

An anthropomorphic modernist house in Vietnam

I am not sure the designer intended to form an anthropomorphic image in the design of the house below.

But it certainly comes off that way, especially when driving by and not necessarily looking at the architecture.  The ground floor is not part of the composition so far. We will wait and see how the ground floor will either detract or remain neutral from the image presented above.  It cannot enhance the image owing to the lack of symmetrically below.

This house is in a new urban area on Hoàng Quốc Việt street southeast of the Phú Mỹ Hưng development in South Saigon.

New modernist houses in San Francisco

I have said before that Vietnamese architects are far ahead of architects in the remainder of the world in evolving modern architecture for houses.  They have been at it for decades.  While there are thousands of excellent modernist houses in Saigon, there are very few in San Francisco, for example.  But architects there are breaking out and the photo below illustrates a typical new house.  This house is on a standard 25-foot wide lot, while the standard Vietnamese lot is usually 13 to 20 feet wide.  Notice the very interesting gate.

This photo is from the popular San Francisco real estate blog SocketSite^TM,  This house if for sale as shown on the website 465 Hoffman Avenue, and the architect is Group 41.

Too much modernism?

As much as I love modernist architecture in Vietnam, sometimes I come across an example that has been taken a little too far.  This house is quiet quite different for Viet Nam:

It looks like a small office building, but it is in a residential district far from any commercial areas.  This is located along Lương Định Của Street in the An Phú area of rural District 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Besides being relentlessly symetrical, the stone materials are different than most modernist Vietnamese houses.  It displays none of the surface or structural articulation common to Vietnamese modernist houses, and therefore is minimalist like much of international modernist architecture.

This is an interesting experiment, but remains too mysterious at this time.  It does not look lived in enough.  It is neither a standard 4-meter wide "tube house" nor a villa.  It is hard to figure out whether it is two units, and how to approach the house.  I need to come back sometime in the daytime (this photo was taken at dusk on a Sunday) to see if the large entry door is open and how people approach this house (or office building if that is what it is, although it is often both in Việt Nam).

The uniquely Vietnamese evolution of modernist architecture

When I first lived in Saigon for a year in 1971-72, I was struck by the numerous excellent modernist houses I saw while walking the streets of Saigon.  I wondered at the time why there would be so much of this kind of architecture in Vietnam, but I did not have the time or capability to find out. 

The above photo was taken in 1972.

I had graduated in 1970 with a professional degree in Architecture from a rural American university, but I had not yet traveled through much of the USA and never until 1971 to Asia or Europe.  Courtesy of the U.S. Navy, I came to Vietnam to manage construction contracts with Vietnamese construction contractors.

There weren’t many modernist houses to see in America at that time (and still aren’t).  What I had seen in architecture magazines were isolated examples by architects experimenting with rich clients on country estates.  I make a distinction here between modernist architecture and the more ubiquitous bland international style common to cities all over the world.

Later in life, I traveled to cities where modernist architecture was more numerous, particularly Miami, Florida, and Mexico City.  These particular cities had attracted architects who had been able to produce modernist houses and buildings on a large scale.  By comparison, San Francisco, where I lived and practiced architecture for 32 years, is a very conservative city where traditional or bland international style forms of architecture vastly outnumber modernist experiments.  But that is changing now over the past five years with young architects following the lead of the very creative internet community in providing intellectual content and leadership.

So it is very interesting to me that modernist architecture was already flourishing in Vietnam in the 1960s and early 70s.  Upon my return to Ho Chi Minh City to live three years ago, I have been thrilled to see how much modernist architecture has evolved over the years in Vietnam, and the hundreds of excellent examples there are to see and study.

However, almost all of these examples have been houses rather than larger buildings.  Until recently, it seems to me that most larger buildings have been the bland international style imported from Singapore and Australia.  But I am now seeing Vietnamese architects break away from these models to translate Vietnamese modernist architecture to larger buildings.

What distinguishes Vietnamese modernist architecture from the examples I now see in western cities are a much greater use of colors, textures, and forms.  Modernist architecture over the years in western countries has been primarily minimalist.  Vietnamese modernist architects seem free to experiment with lines, planes, and volumes, along with colors and textures in a variety of materials.

I am also gratified to find that excellent modernist architecture is not confined to Ho Chi Minh City.  I have not traveled extensively north of Danang, but I could not fine many examples of modernist architecture in Hue or Hanoi.  Some of the best examples I have found are in rural villages of southern Vietnam – from Quang Nam Province on down through Binh Dinh Province to Binh Thuan Province and the provinces circling Ho Chi Minh City.  While these examples are essentially modernist, they have regional variations that I find fascinating.  In Quang Nam and Binh Dinh, the basic house forms, especially the roof forms, are traditional Vietnamese in origin with tile gabled roofs.  But the facades are very modernist in their use of bright colors and patterns of lines in the plaster surfaces.

In the provinces around Ho Chi Minh City, architectonic elements such as finials are added to the eave or cornice lines, and the roofs are often flat.

Some might say that Vietnamese architects have only copied what they see in global architecture magazines, but I read those magazines too, and fail to find the sources for what I feel is a much more inventive architecture in southern Vietnam.

I think that modernist architecture fits the culture of Vietnam very well; so Vietnamese architects have evolved a uniquely Vietnamese style of modernism.  The old thatched roof houses were very simple in form and therefore easily allowed experimentation with modernist principles.  The same is true of the rural wood houses in the central highlands.

Unlike Cambodia and Thailand where temple architecture has provided highly-stylistic and iconic elements to be tacked onto houses, the Vietnamese culture has managed to keep temple forms (which are usually Chinese in origin) on the temple grounds.  I also think it is likely that the Vietnamese adaption of modernism was a reaction to the French colonial styles of architecture, which are not complimentary to the Vietnamese culture.  I am not a scholar of architectural history, and certainly not of Vietnamese culture, so I would encourage feedback from readers regarding the unproven and unresearched assertions I have been throwing out here.

Design is a series of intelligent choices, ranging from the overall form down to decisions about the trim around windows, or how a wall plane meets the ground.  I am guessing that trained architects did not design most of the modernist houses in the rural areas.  It is likely that home-owners and construction contractors worked together to make intelligent decisions based upon pioneering modernist houses in their area, and added some experimentation on their own.

It seems to me that a population must have an innate sense of good design in order to produce the consistently good examples that have been produced throughout southern Vietnam over the years.  I am constantly enriched as I travel around Vietnam and walk through the cities.  I believe that Vietnamese should be very proud of the Vietnamese brand of modernist architecture that they have evolved on their own terms.

Historical tradition of modernist architecture in Vietnam

It may seem strange to call modernist architecture historical and traditional.  In southern Vietnam, however, this makes sense because modernist architecture has been practiced as the norm for over fifty years.  A walk through any Ho Chi Minh City neighborhood will reveal many examples of Vietnamese modernist houses built in the 1950s through the 1970s and beyond.

I have stated many times (in the "Design Touches" and "Modernist Houses" categories of postings) that the southern Vietnamese have an innate sense of good design, and they have been very willing to experiment and try out new ideas in materials, colors, and shapes.  I noted previously that current Vietnamese architects and designers are building upon a long tradition of strong modernist architecture.

When I came to Saigon to live in 1971-1972, I was surprised to find a modernist villa (next door to a French-colonial villa) across from my hotel.

This house appeared to have been constructed in the 1950s.  A walk down the street from where I lived was this new modernist townhouse, typical of those being built in the late 60s and early 70s.

The facade finish material for these modernist houses in the mid-20th century was almost always plaster inlayed with varying shades of grey exposed aggregate.  The plaster was applied to a reinforced concrete structural frame with extruded clay brick infill.  This is the same basic method of construction still in use today.  Today, however, the plaster is most often finished very smooth and then painted.  The exposed aggregate surfaces are what distinguish the early modernist houses built in Vietnam in the mid-20th century.

Old modernist houses are also found in abundance in the countryside, like this one in the Cu Chi district of HCMC.

Although these houses most often have sloped ceramic tile roofs and tropical shutters on the sides, the front facades are distinctively modernist, with clean simple lines, and utilitarian ventilation openings.  Notice the simple decorative lines midway up the columns (click on the photo to open a larger version).

These two houses in Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh Province) show the two trends of early modernist architecture.

These houses have escaped the recent destruction of beach-side fishermen's houses in Quy Nhon to build a new promenade.  The left-hand house shows the heavier but simpler modernist tradition, while the right-hand house displays the lighter touch with many simple linear decorative elements applied to the structural frame.

There are probably historians that would say that these houses show Chinese influences, but I do not think that is true at all.  Chinese houses usually display much more ostentatious decorations and do not have simple clean lines.  Chinese influences on architecture are much more prevalent in northern Vietnam, and are certainly seen in Buddhist pagodas and temples.

Historians might also say that early modernist architecture in Vietnam was influenced by French-colonial architects, but I see no evidence of that in Vietnamese modernist houses.  These modernist houses are a big jump from French-colonial villlas.  It is likely that the Vietnamese architects of these mid-20th century houses were educated in France and brought back their impressions of the early modernist architecture they may have seen in France, Germany, and Italy.  But the house designs are distinctly Vietnamese to me, and I believe that Vietnamese architects developed their own course of modernist architecture considering tropical climate responses and the ability to form up slender shapes and poor concrete in them.

The ability and desire to make slender concrete shapes is shown in these two early modernist houses in HCMC, probably constructed in the late 60s or early 70s.

The fins at the rooftop trellises for both these houses are all poured-in-place reinforced concrete.  I saw formwork for this kind of detail in 1972 walking around Saigon.  Today, however, the costs of labor and material to build this kind of formwork and take care in pouring concrete are too high even in Vietnam, so the current trend is to much less of this kind of detail.

While the previous two photographs illustrated the "lighter touch" school of Vietnamese modernist architecture, the following photograph illustrates the "heavy but simpler" trend of architecture for houses:

Many of these mid-20th century modernist houses are hidden away by the advertising signs common today in all Vietnamese towns and cities.

This larger house (probably built in the 1960s judging from the exposed aggregate plaster) is much more restrained in the use of decorative elements, but takes the middle road between light and heavy.

I believe that Vietnamese architects have developed a very distinctive modernist architecture for houses over the past sixty years that is tailored to the climate and the needs and good tastes of the Vietnamese people.

And it is likely that it wasn't just architects contributing to this development -- given the innate good design sense of the southern Vietnamese people, contractors and home-owners probably made many of the design decisions seen in these "historical modernist" houses.

Color in Vietnamese modernist houses

Viet commented yesterday on my posting of 23 October 2007 entitled "Neighborhood new houses...":

I realize VNeses like to use to the secondary colors to paint thier buildings (perhaps it's due to the heat, probably it's toomuch to the eyes to use primary colors in the tropic climate).

That does seem to be generally true, but as usual there are good exceptions.  Primary colors are more often used here in Vietnam as accent colors (see my banner photo at the top of the page).  I believe that  southern Vietnamese have an innate good design sense that leads them to intelligent choices in the use of color.  Even though the background colors are usually secondary colors, they are often intense colors.  But here are a few modernist houses in Ho Chi Minh City that have used primary colors in big ways:

Every primary color including green (the plantings) are used in this house.

Large expanses of red used here as an accent color.

Strong primary colors are used here effectively to complement the strong forms.

Neighborhoood new houses...

There is construction work going on everywhere in all of the neighborhoods of Ho Chi Minh City.  While there are a fair number of high-rise buildings, bridges, highways, and housing subdivisions under construction, the bulk of work being done here is small-scale residential improvements along the small lanes within the large city blocks of Saigon.  My posting on 19 April 2007 described these neighborhoods as part of the urban fabric of the city.

Where home-owners are not tearing down their smaller houses and building much taller homes, they are constantly remodeling to add new features to their existing homes, or to raise the rooftop by another story.

Down the hẻm from me, an old villa was torn down over a couple of days and construction begun on five new 4-story houses at the same time, each on 4-meter wide by 12-meter long lots.  Three of the new houses were of a pop style using historicist (architectural styles adapted from the past) design elements:

The remaining two houses around the corner are of excellent modernist design:

These two modernist houses are now my favorites, and I need to return to them on a sunny day (rather rare around HCMC this month) to catch some better photos of them.

I am not sure whether one land owner decided to build three pop traditional design houses and two modernist houses for sale, or he sold the lots and the new owners made their own choices.  I will try to find out.

Retail stores come and go...

You may recognize where my banner photo above comes from -- the photo of this restaurant building off Phan Xích Long Street in the Phú Nhuận District of Hồ Chí Minh City was taken a year ago when the building was fairly new.

The restaurant has now been closed (perhaps temporarily) and the second level has had its large openings blocked up with hollow-clay tile blocks (hopefully temporarily).

I don't know if the infill was placed to keep out intruders for awhile until the building is rented again, or if the owner is preparing for a new tenant who wanted the openings blocked up.  This was one of my favorite modernist buildings in Saigon, so I will be coming by regularly to see how what the results of this renovation will be.

Neighborhoods in HCMC are not static at this time -- they are constantly changing.  You can walk along a lane one day, and then come back a couple of days later to find your favorite house demolished and a new house under construction.

Modernist design ideas in Việt Nam

I have often expressed my respect for the modernist tradition practiced by Vietnamese architects in urban houses.  I believe that Vietnamese architects have explored a long history of modernist design ideas, and produce very interesting, well-designed houses.  They constantly try out new original ideas using color and layering of the structural frame skillfully.  This house in my neighborhood illustrates the basic modernist design principals used by good Vietnamese architects in houses throughout Ho Chi Minh City.

This house exhibits a spare but well-chosen use of color as well as layering of the structural planes with void elements (holes)  to provide a balanced composition.

What I cannot understand is why Vietnamese architects have not often been able to scale this ability up to larger buildings.  More often than not, Vietnamese architecture for larger buildings is heavy-handed and displays none of the inventiveness and fresh ideas designed into new houses everyday here in HCMC.  This building is a new example (just finishing construction on Nguyễn Trãi Street in District 5).

The heavy base of the building is a very dark color with no relationship whatsoever to the curtain wall of the middle floors.  The facade is bland and is devoid of any ideas.

This residential building, newly constructed on Cao Thắng Street in District 3, is also a bland building, but explores some basic modernist ideas that give it design touches to offset the blandness..

Accent colors are skillfully used around the windows to emphasize the openings and give interest to a facade that is otherwise the most common expression of this kind of construction in Viet Nam.  Layers have been added to the facade to further give depth and interest to the building.  These are very simple ideas, but are not used often enough in the larger buildings designed by Vietnamese architects.

Design Touches 7

While I am thrilled about the modernist and experimental directions of Vietnamese house architecture, I am aware that Việt Nam has a long history of modernist architecture that has a distinctive Vietnamese flavor.  Việt Nam's explorations in modernist art and architecture paralleled the evolution of modernist architecture in Europe and the Americas, whereas in most Asian countries, design has lagged the world evolution in design.

I think that the southern Vietnamese have an innate sense of design that motivates them to develop strong ideas in architecture, as well as allied arts in fashion and graphic design.

This detail from an old house in my neighborhood of TP. Hồ Chí Minh shows this spirit of experimentation in modernist design.

While the composition may not be very well resolved, the fact that the owner of this utilitarian house felt strongly enough to have such decoration applied to the house speaks to the sense of design that the Vietnamese value.

I took the following photo in 1972 because I was amazed to find modernist architecture alongside the French Colonial architecture that I expected to find in Việt Nam.

This photograph was taken recently, but this villa probably dates back to the 60s or 70s, and is unfortunately in an area that will be redeveloped soon.

HCMC House 10

"Super graphics" had a strong impact in the 60s and 70s.  This style of graphics featured out-sized letters and numbers on posters or signs.

This is the first "super graphics" house I have seen, and it is in the Gò Vấp district of TPHCM.

I wonder what the number 3 and letters S and V reference.

Design Touches 6

Vietnamese designers are often very inventive and innovative.  They use materials in previously unused ways, and create very interesting features in places usually not treated.

This small office building on Đường (Street) Phan Xích Long in TP. Hồ Chí Minh displays a very unusual artwork etched or painted on the front window of the second and third floor.

The artwork portrays the map published by the People's Committee of TP. Hồ Chí Minh to illustrate the planned development of HCMC to the year 2020.

HCMC House 9

There seems to be a current tendency in house architecture in Ho Chi Minh City to mix modernist and historicist styles.  This house in District 7 of HCMC exhibits this pull from a strong modernist statement towards the addition of disparate elements such as gable roof ends (almost always a false front).

When I first saw this house in the bright light of the heat of the day, I didn't notice the gable end at the roof because the modernist frame is so strong.  It was only after viewing the photo that I realized how flawed this design had become.

The bottom two-thirds of the frame has been shifted to the left  so the frame is narrower on the left edge.  Elements within the frame have been crudely added to rebalance the weight, but why dillute the strong frame by unbalancing it?  On the whole, a strong idea has been watered down by irrational impulses.

HCMC House 8

Most modernist houses in Ho Chi Minh City are not as experimental as those pictured in HCMC House 6 and House 7.  This house is much more typical in its modernist restraint.

This house exemplifies the normal modernist approach to house facade design in Viet Nam -- a strong frame, differing articulation of balconies or terraces at each floor, unifying railing designs with some original artistic detail, some delicate device such as the trellis at the roof terrace, and at least one strong element such as the large frame at the third floor.

HCMC House 7

This house in the Phu Nhuan District of TP. Hồ Chí Minh is akin to House 6 in its experimentation.

Unlike House 6, it is fairly well resolved -- the diagonals are a consistent part of the composition, and relate to the rectalinear frame very well.  I like the way it looks like this house is holding up the new house next door.

It is good to see Vietnamese architects trying out ideas like this, particularly when they are fairly successful at resolving the compositional issues.  But most ideas like this don't serve well as a prototype for further exploration.  This is definitely a "one-off" design.

HCMC House 6

Vietnamese residential architects like to experiment with new materials, colors, textures, details, shapes, and elements.  Most of this experimentation occurs within a modernist design approach.  Similar exploration in historicist houses are generally a copying of elements from historical precedents and styles.  Vietnamese architects seem to pride themselves on their original ideas, and I rarely see duplication or appropriation of others' ideas.

This experimentation does not seem to be a new phenomenon -- many of these experiments seem to be several years old, judging from fading or peeling paint.  This house in District 3 of TP. Hồ Chí Minh is a good example.

Some may consider this to be a failed experiment -- I woudn't agree with that even though the slanted window bears little relationship to anything else in the composition except the paint band.  I enjoy seeing these experiments in my walks through HCMC neighborhoods, and continued experimentation is leading to  very good modernist houses  in Việt Nam by Vietnamese architects.

HCMC House 5

Not all new houses in Ho Chi Minh City are modernist.  Like anywhere else in the world, people have different tastes and desires.  I enjoy walking through most of the HCMC neighborhoods because there is such a wide variation in architectural styles for houses.  I particularly like the many very well-designed modernist houses, but other styles add visual interest, such as this house.

I could not design an historicist house like this.  And I don't believe it is well-designed from an historicist point-of-view, either.  But it certainly makes the walk along this block interesting.