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breakfast & dinner
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The Architecture Experience – Vietnam takes participants on a 9 day journey across the country of Vietnam exploring projects which showcase sustainable practices through different perspectives and interpretations. The immersive experience gives students a chance to go beyond academic perceptions of Vernacular Sustainability, which focuses on integrating a sense of structural innovation with wide, open spaces, increased ventilation, usage of local resources, and building materials with cooling factors.
Pottery Museum by 1+1>2 Architects, Bat Trang, Hanoi
Image on top – Train Street in Hanoi, Vietnam
9
days
20
participants
2
cities
What is The Architecture Experience - Vietnam?
The best approach to growing as an architect is to learn from experiencing and observing. The Architecture Experience Vietnam aims to do just that – to take an existing project proposal and enhance its core architectural values by incorporating the ideals of Vernacular Sustainability studied on this tour. The Experience will be a nine day long curated educational tour for up to twenty participants, across 2 cities in Vietnam.
These visits will focus on observing and learning about the importance of site sensitivity, different architectural techniques – active and passive, importance of material selection and other aspects vital to sustainability. The visits will foster a deep understanding of building with nature with an inclination to local materials and techniques, while working on a documentation capstone project will collate the learning of Vernacular Sustainability ideals on contemporary architecture.
Itinerary
In the 9 days, participants will get to work on their own Capstone project in sync with their subjects in college or work. These projects will be relevant for an urban landscape, with inspiration taken from places visited during this Experience.
De La Sól Work and Exhibition Space by The Lab Saigon. Image © Chimnon Studio
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3/4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8/9
Day 1
Early morning arrival in Hanoi, Vietnam. Orientation on the structure of the tour visits and project. Finalisation of teams and the participants’ individual roles and responsibilities within the team will be defined.
Places to visit: Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature, Vietnamese National Assembly (outside visit), Cua Buac Church.
Day 2
Topics of discussion: Sustainable building materials, contemporary innovation in architecture and construction technology.
Places to visit: Hanoi Museum, Bat Trang Pottery Village, Studio Visit.
Day 3/4
Topics of discussion: Architectural influence of Vietnam and its relevance in contemporary design, the fusion of traditional and modern design.
Places to visit: Pizza 4Ps, Studio Visit.
Cultural visit: Old Quarter, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Hanoi Train Street, Hoàn Kiếm.
Late evening arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Day 4.
Day 5
Topics of discussion: Influence of natural environment and the socio-economical situation on architecture.
Places to visit: Saigon Central Post Office, HCMC Book Street, De La Sol Work & Exhibition space, Studio Visit.
Day 6
Topics of discussion: Landscape elements – the use of water, rock gardens and traditional flowers in spatial design.
Places to visit: Wind & Water Cafe, Studio Visit.
Day 7
Topics of discussion: Spatial planning, reclamation and renovation of spaces for multi-functional usage.
Places to visit: The Brix Restaurant & Momentum Living Showroom.
Cultural visit: Cafe Apartments, Nguyen Hue Street, Chidori Coffee in Bed Cafe, Ben Thanh Market.
Day 8/9
Culmination of the tour, brief on submission of Capstone project.
Departure to India or home country.
Days 4, 8, and 9 are free days for the participants to explore the cities.
Cultural visits are not part of the itinerary but are recommended areas to shop and explore the city.
Upcoming batches
July 22 - 31, 2024
How Much Does It Cost?
INR 115,000 / $1,500
The price includes flights ex-Kolkata, India (taxes extra). The price without flights is $1,300. Please contact us if you are a student, for discounted pricing.
What does the cost include?
Our Partners
People
Atul Saraff
MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology
Curator & Tour leader - The Architecture Experience
Rachita Bhonsle
MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology
Curator & Tour leader - The Architecture Experience
Testimonials
The trip allowed me a very holistic experience of the cities, which is a first for me despite having been on quite a few “study” trips. It encompassed everything from contemporary and historically relevant site visits to vibrant day and night markets, offering insights into various aspects beyond architecture- food, culture, history, and so on. To our surprise and joy, the lively local New Year celebrations added a dynamic dimension, revealing various facets of the city's essence. It was encouraging to see studios and practices using sustainability and adaptive reuse as forefront agendas in a relatable urban context. I enjoyed seeing the variety in the typologies and languages of architecture within the same city. Would definitely want to explore more into the observations and learnings from Vietnam. Having been a small group, there were a lot of spontaneous discussions encouraged and initiated by Atul Sir, that made me look a few more steps beyond just the surface and helped me catch onto certain aspects in a much more simplified way. He was really a great mentor to have on this trip!
Ayushi Madan
4th Year, Wadiyar Centre For Architecture, Mysore
(Participant - Vietnam, February 2024)
(Participant - Vietnam, February 2024)
The Architecture Experience Vietnam was a great experience for me since before this, I felt a little out of place and wanted motivation to move ahead - so this trip really helped me with that and helped me understand my profession better. It was good to see sustainable architecture in real life, and see real life interpretation of subjects like building construction and architectural design. I also loved interactions with fellow participants.
Sagarika Kaushik
4th Year, Vastu Kala Academy, Delhi (Participant, July 2019)
The overall experience was really fun. I personally got a lot from the trip in terms of architecture and interiors. I learnt a lot not only from the site visits but also from all the cafe hopping we did. Especially how every architectural element was articulated in the certain sites (actual projects by various architects, cafes, restaurants, and public spaces) of the city that we went to. I personally enjoyed the fact that we stayed in hostels, it allowed us to interact with others staying there as well. Genuinely had fun in the Hanoi hostel. The experience with Atul sir made all the difference as he was extremely approachable and we could clear all of our doubts with sir (both site-related questions to what it is like to be an architect in today’s day and age). Plus, the short discussions we had in the van also personally helped me process the site visit. He always gave us clues to look for in the buildings that we visited which helped us analyse and read the building better.
Niharika Harinath
4th Year, Wadiyar Centre For Architecture, Mysore
(Participant - Vietnam, February 2024)
(Participant - Vietnam, February 2024)
Sustainable Development Goals
All our Experiences are aimed at implementing and solving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. Goal no. 17 ‘Partnerships for the Goals’ is key to our Experiences, since we work with a global team of experts to be able to add value to the learning of the participants. The Architecture Experience Vietnam focuses on 3 of the Goals primarily.
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
– Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being.
Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
– By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing
– By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement
– By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
– By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
– Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production
FAQs
– Students and fresh graduates from architecture colleges and related fields
– Young professionals from architecture, design and related fields who want to explore Vernacular Sustainability in Vietnam
Young architects could benefit exponentially from observing contemporary Vietnamese architecture as the pros and cons architects deal with in Vietnam are largely similar to that in tropical regions like India. Issues like high population density, space premium, harsh climate and limited financial resources are common. Likewise, advantages like abundant natural material resources, readily available labour and traditional knowhow in the construction field are also common. Vietnam has produced innovative yet feasible architecture that is both aesthetically pleasing and functionally efficient. Budding architects would benefit from experiencing architecture that intelligently blends the best of the old and new, the built and the open.
Yes! This Experience will take up to 20 participants. These participants will be split into smaller teams to execute projects which are designed to give added value to their ongoing projects (school or live).
The Architecture Experience is designed with the intent of enhancing architectural understanding. To this end, a short capstone project is included as part of the experience. The participants will explore methods of observation and documentation while focusing on ideologies of Vernacular Sustainability and its applications.
This Experience will focus on observing and learning about the importance of site sensitivity, different architectural techniques – active and passive, importance of material selection and other aspects vital to sustainable architecture, which are important tenets of contemporary and new age architecture, be it urban or non urban.
Yes! From a logistics point of view, this price includes the cost of accommodation, flights, visas, breakfast and dinner, local and airport transfers, and entry fees where applicable.
“
A building can only be understood by moving around and through it, and by experiencing the modulation, and feel the spaces one moves through - from outside into verandah, then rooms, passages, courtyards. Architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced."
Geoffrey Bawa