The unique bamboo structure Wind and Water Café is located in southern Binh Duong Province.
Award-winning architect Vo Trong Nghia, creator of the unique bamboo structure Wind and Water Café, on using environment-friendly materials in modern structures.
By Thu Ha | Vietnews Online
VIETNAM – Nghia, who this year received the prestigious International Architecture Award (IAA) for his café built with the traditional Vietnamese building materials, bamboo, said he began the project to oppose long-established concepts about architecture.
He wanted to show that it was wrong to think only high class materials could create a beautiful house and that the use of natural materials, such as wind and light, was possible.
Q: Vietnamese architects have received quite a lot international awards, so what is special about the IAA award?
A: It is simple. The award is practical. It is not an award for students’ graduation projects but for professional architects. It means people have come to acknowledge and appreciate your work as a real structure, not something only on paper.
It is significant to me as the award proved that I am heading in the same direction as the rest of the world in using open space, nature and unprocessed and environmentally-friendly materials.
"An architect’s responsibility is to create an architectural model that is close to nature that even poor people will also be able to enjoy the benefit of." -Vo Trong Nghia, architect
Q: You always emphasize the natural and environmental elements of your designs. It is not that other Vietnamese architects do not know about it, but they have to rely on the project investor and thus are unable to bring to life their ideas. What did you do to be able to convert your ideas into construction?
A: I spent my childhood in a small village in central province of Quang Binh and like any other village, we lived with our wind, rice field, garden and river. I have been making bamboo baskets and screens since I was a child.
My house was made of bamboo and dirt. I only studied in Hanoi for about two years before heading to Japan to continue my studies.
What surprised me the most was how natural elements still exist in Japan’s construction and everyday life, side by side with modern technology, and they are treasured to the point they are protected by law.
I was amazed to learn that Japan has 67 percent of its land covered by forest grown by humans. The amount of wood harvested every year reaches 2 million cubic meters and thus the government encourages local people to build wooden houses and schools.
Of course, Vietnam can not do the same thing as our forests are being excessively exploited and destroyed. But we have bamboo, a fast-maturing and easy-to-grow type of Vietnamese material.
A bamboo bush can have dozens of buds and if we do not cut off the old ones, there will be no space for the young ones to grow. That’s why after my return to the country, I immediately thought of bamboo. It is cheap and easy to find, that’s why I try to convince my clients that their projects should be environmentally-friendly.
If we make it environmentally-friendly in a high-class way like some resorts do, does that mean only rich people can bring nature into their home? An architect’s responsibility is to create an architectural model that is close to nature that even poor people will also be able to enjoy the benefit of. Of course, I was not able to convince my client and ended up conducting the project by myself. The Wind and Water Café is entirely made of processed bamboo trunks, which are very cheap.
The structure remains beautiful after four years of operation and it has attracted visitors from around the country. Lots of coffee shops of the same designs have been built in other places. Even though I have not received any copyright payment, it makes me happy. Now the new trend in architecture has been popularized and bamboo is taking the place of concrete, aluminum and glass.
My model of creating open space which makes use of light and wind is in accordance with modern architecture. Vietnamese bamboo has its own unique character. I have exported a number of bamboo structures to Europe, America and Japan. My ambition is to have my creations, made with Vietnamese bamboo, in every country of the world.
The Wind and Water Café is a half-moon shaped complex which applies aerodynamic theory. (Photo by Hoai Trang)
Q: The term architecture does not only mean grand-scale public structures but also the living space of each family. All the materials you said are cheap are, in fact, quite delicate and complex when it comes to constructing. Will these materials be able to reach private households?
A: All of my structures may look complex but they are, in fact, quite simple. Everything is modulated and it takes little time to install. A house of moderate size in a rural or suburban area will cost a few dozen million Vietnam dong to complete. A house like that is only about one third of the price of a normal house of the same size.
Q: You have been using bamboo in your construction, have you ever thought of growing bamboo to replace what you use?
A: I am working on a plan to grow bamboo, not only as building material but also as decoration. We are also thinking of creating a museum for bamboo. This will be the world’s biggest bamboo museum with all type of bamboos from Vietnam and neighboring areas.
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