Vietnamese architects have evolved a sophisticated approach to modernist architecture for houses over the past 50 years, with excellent examples everywhere in southern Vietnam.

1. Modernist Architecture in Vietnam
A long local evolution of modernist design of houses
Mel Schenck 22 July 2008

2. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• In the standard narrow
Vietnamese city townhouse,
the house is all front
elevation.
• There is little opportunity to
add spatial variation -- the
design opportunity is the
front facade.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 2

3. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• These houses are long and
narrow. Since they usually
abut houses on each side and
rear, there are no windows on
three sides.
• The only other design
opportunities are the roof
tops and the interior.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 3

4. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• In southern Vietnam,
Vietnamese architects like to
experiment with materials,
colors, textures, lines,
patterns, and forms.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 4

5. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• The Vietnamese architects
have an innate sense of
graphic design
• They design very abstract
compositions
• Some abstract compositions
complement the interior
needs, like with this house.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 5

6. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Some house facades are a
little too graphic.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 6

7. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Some Vietnamese architects
manage to add spatial variety
to the otherwise flat facade.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 7

8. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Other architects managed to
provide some form by setting
back blocks from the street.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 8

9. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Other designs provide a
pattern on the flat facade.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 9

10. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Sometimes it just doesn’t
work well, but the
experiment in itself is
interesting, since this one
looks a bit like my house in
San Francisco.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 10

11. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Not all southern Vietnamese
houses are modernist,
although a much higher
percentage are than in
western countries.
• There are also the usual
historicist monstrosities.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 11

12. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• There is a long history of
modernist architecture for
houses in Vietnam
• This photo was taken in 1972
of a modernist house in
Saigon, probably built in the
60s.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 12

13. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• This photo taken in 1972
shows the typical Saigon
townhouse block.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 13

14. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Also taken in 1972, this photo
illustrates the attention to
detail that contributes to the
long evolution of modernist
house design in Vietnam.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 14

15. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• This old HCMC house,
probably built in the 70s or
80s, exemplifies the stylistic
elements of that period -- fine
detail and filigree.
• Modernist houses of this
period used an exposed
aggregate in the plaster
surfaces for texture.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 15

16. • This old house in HCMC is perhaps
Vietnamese Modernist Houses a little overdone, but displays
imaginative choices.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 16

17. • Meanwhile in the Mekong Delta,
Vietnamese Modernist Houses designers evolved this colorful
patterned modernist style.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 17

18. • This Mekong Delta house exhibits a
Vietnamese Modernist Houses less colorful but patterned variation
of the delta modernist style
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 18

19. • This Mekong Delta house in My
Vietnamese Modernist Houses Tho is an urban variation of the
preceding country houses, with
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 19 Art Deco touches.

20. In central Vietnam, the country houses are
Vietnamese Modernist Houses simpler in form but more colorful and
patterned.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 20

21. • These urban houses in Quy Nhơn
Vietnamese Modernist Houses are not as colorful, but display
interesting modernist details.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 21

22. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
• Design is about making
choices -- choices about
materials, textures, colors,
lines, patterns, form.
• This is a very simple house,
but complex choices were
made about each design
element that kept this design
simple and well-integrated.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 22

23. • It is difficult to say why these
Vietnamese Modernist Houses decisions were made, and by whom,
but the result is very intelligent.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 23

24. Vietnamese
Modernist Houses
•Sometimes the choices
made are very artistic.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 24

25. The choices become more difficult as the
Vietnamese Modernist Houses scale increases to larger buildings.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 25

26. Vietnamese architects are now extending
Vietnamese Modernist Houses their unique use of modernist architecture
to larger buildings.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 26

27. But modernist architecture in Vietnam
Vietnamese Modernist Houses began with houses, and Vietnamese
architects have built a strong foundation.
Mel Schenck -- 22 July 2008 -- page 27