There is an incredible diversity of design ideas expressed in the urban houses of TP. Hồ Chí Minh. I could take hundreds of pictures every day of interesting design touches applied to these houses. Virtually every urban house is different, and each has at least something that is either well-designed or experiments with an interesting but as yet unresolved design idea. Here is another collection of gates that illustrate the design sensitivity of the Vietnamese metal craftsmen, owners, architects, and construction contractors in TPHCM.
The gate to this café is understated, but the remainder of the exterior enclosure on this corner wall uses color elements within the ventilation screen very well. During business hours when the doors are opened, the café is invitingly open.
This is an older home, illustrating that craftsmen began to experiment with interesting ideas a couple of decades ago.
This is a more minimalist approach with the openings neatly cut within the two planes of the gate and the surround.
This minimalist design has just enough change in the one door to make this gate very interesting. The use of many welded bars and small plates is unfortunately too expensive for standard western houses.
This design is not well-resolved between the gate at the ground floor and the design elements of the floors above. The cascading design feature at the first floor balcony (second floor to Americans) is an interesting experiment.
The outside elements of this gate exhibit an extremely fine screen of bars on the diagonals, illustrating the high level of craftsmanship available in Việt Nam. The ramps allow entry by either motorbikes or a car, and this is a common way of accommodating this access.
