Elements like history and culture are significant for a project, particularly when it stands beside those made by local architects. Is this true in the case of your award-winning designs? 

These two elements create familiar emotions for users. For an architecture project designed in the US or India, for instance, a foreigner can see images of the US or India as soon as they approach it. Elements like culture, history and the specific features of a particular location must be shaped in the minds of architects from the very first stage of idea exploration. Studies also come from self analyses involving these elements. Each location has its own natural, cultural and historical context so projects are completely different from each other. That’s why referring to the best designs available is unacceptable.

To kick-start a project, we let our architects spend two days out, which means they do not come to the workplace but do whatever they want outside, even sleeping or having coffee during the day. But when they return to the office the following day, they must be able to present their emotions and rough ideas. In their presentations, they speak about the sound, colour, nature and general architecture of the area [where the project will take shape].

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Could you elaborate on your award-winning projects? 

Standing next to American and Indian architects to receive the awards, we felt so proud to say “I’m from Việt Nam!” It meant a lot. We want to promote the reality that Vietnamese architects can compete with their foreign peers. For example, with India’s National War Museum competition, the first and second prizes went to local architects and we won third place. The Indian Prime Minister chose the best three projects. The Indians are quite conservative but he still chose ours.

We don’t consider Việt Nam our sole market. We look beyond borders. Thanks to these competitions we have successfully made our name. Competitions are there to find the best ideas.

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