Architect Nguyen The Phuong: The rise of Vietnam in the Architect's vision
WVR - According to architect Nguyen The Phuong - Head of Finko Architect, Vietnam is like a young man in his youth, a country full of potential and rising strength, therefore, the rise of Vietnam should be reflected in Architecture.
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Architect Nguyen The Phuong graduated from TU Berlin, Germany. He has got well known for large projects that had been implemented over the past 10 years in Vietnam. He used to be the Managing Director of DA Group in Vietnam, the General Director of Aedas Vietnam, the Chief architect of one of the largest and earliest projects in Thu Thiem peninsula and currently the General Director of Finko Architect HK and Finko Architect Vietnam.
He began to be in spotlight when the international research project Universal Home was funded by the EU Development Fund and hosted by the Red Dot Design Museum - in Germany.
COVID-19 and work from home made many people turn to his Universal Home research which had been run for 14 years because there are related features. More interestingly, at the time, he also talked about e-commerce.
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| According to architect Nguyen The Phuong, the rise of Vietnam should be reflected in Architecture. (Photo: VNE) |
Has Universal Home influenced the approaches that you and Finko Architect are pursuing?
In case of a private house, serving a family, the degree of variation is not wide. But a project where thousands of family are living in is a different story. Likewise, planning a hectare plot of land has a small impact, but if it is on a scale of dozen of hectares or larger, it is a matter of survival for a locality, a city and a country.
It's only been 10 years since I returned to Vietnam, but the world has changed amazingly. You can imagine how much 50 year life cycle (the minimum life cycle requirement for a Grade I building) will change.
The architect at our time is no longer at the level of beautiful drawing and personal taste or style, but he or she needs to be very knowledgeable about economy, society, technology, culture, environment and universality in approaching the issues in order to get a building, a living block or a township well prepared for the long run.
Why are you talking about e-commerce since 2007, when Amazon or Alibaba were at that time still in pregnancy of the idea, and especially you are an architect?
You know, design and architecture are to some extent rooted in completely unrelated fields.
When I was a student, I used to go shopping at IKEA. They revolutionized the furniture business. IKEA became a weekend getaway for families now and then, and shopping became an experience. For each type of item, they have hundreds of different models, to allow the customers to assemble comfortably, but manually.
Once watching my friends playing video games I came to the idea: “Oh, why don't we combine the two, it's both fun and functional" so I embrace the feeling of "hunting goods". Buying means you come and take, the item is already available there. Hunting means you find your favorite item. It's already extra more.
I don't study commerce, but the essence of the works is to operate - that is, to make money, by its beauty, by its flexibility, whatever it is. Even a stone or concrete statue knows how to make money, so architecture must make money, which is the top criterion.
Your works are always distinguishing and influential not only in Vietnam but also in other countries. You won the Design Research Award at the Red Dot Design Center - the most prestigious design and architecture playground in the world. What helped you make those distinguishing features?
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| Architect Nguyen The Phuong. (Photo: Thuonggiaonline) |
During my studenthood in Germany I lived on the rewarded prize money from competitions. Research at the Red Dot Design Center is one such competition. Putting myself in competitions has trained me in research habits, time management, and discipline.
To win you have to study in depth, work frantically and be very hard onyourself because you have to compete with super good people. That habit is in the blood, so even with pre-ordered projects I am never satisfied easily but I would "struggle" with the design at all corners and angles, bringing up all the problems, to discuss and debate with other consultants until it is established that the proposed solution is the most relevant.
Good knowledge in social undertakings is a treasure trove of creativity - I live in many diverse cultures, I can speak 4 different languages, so having a diverse social background also makes a difference to my works.
Your Finko Co. received enormous projects. The design attracts great attention while having absolutely no website nor advertisements. Is it because the design concept from Finko is always profitable?
The world is categorized into country groups based on GDP - per capita income, that is, on the ability to make money.
The beauty of a building or a city lies in its logic and vigorous vitality. There is no such beautiful building and nice city to be called poor. Because the criteria of those beauties originate from their performing functions and utilitarianism, everyone finds themselves there, and especially very sustainable because those works were born to serve life, whether it's an apartment or a shop, or just a pocket garden.
Vietnam needs to make full use of the potential resources in the wisest way, we cannot apply the strategy of developed countries where the population is at retirement age. Do understand that Vietnam is like a juvenile man in his youth, as a country full of potential and rising, Finko architects go for a rise in our vision.
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