On the morning of April 19, 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, in the exciting atmosphere of the whole country celebrating the 50th anniversary of the country’s reunification (April 30, 1975 – April 30, 2025) and welcoming the Vietnamese Architecture Day on April 27, 2025, the Vietnam Association of Architects coordinated with the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Architects to organize the Conference “Vietnamese Architecture – 50 Years of Reunification”. The workshop is part of the activities of the Vietnam Association of Architects to implement the Secretariat’s Directive and Plan 390-KH/BTGTW dated November 15, 2023 of the Central Propaganda Department (now the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department) on organizing activities to summarize 50 years of Vietnamese literature and art after the country’s reunification (April 30, 1975 – April 30, 2025).
The Conference attracted more than 400 delegates who are researchers, architects, experts in the fields of planning, architecture, critical theory, heritage conservation, architect training, state management, etc. from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and many provinces and cities in the Central, Southern and Mekong Delta regions.
Opening the Conference, Architect Nguyen Truong Luu – Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Architects, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Architects gave a speech sharing an overview of architectural works in the South in the period before and after 1975. He also raised concerns about the “disappearance” of works with strong local imprints and suggested the content of the “”genetic code of Vietnamese architecture for experts to exchange and discuss.
Opening the presentation, Prof. Dr. Architect. Nguyen Quoc Thong – Chairman of the Council of Architecture of the Vietnam Association of Architects gave an introduction to Vietnamese Architecture – 50 years of national reunification and also an important milestone on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Vietnam Architecture Day. According to Professor Thong, over the past 50 years, Vietnamese Architecture has made remarkable progress. To make Vietnamese Architecture modern and unique, it is necessary to focus on a number of contents such as: Comprehensive innovation in planning work; Focusing on developing modern tropical architecture trends, indigenous architecture trends and green architecture; Training to improve the capacity of architects, both professional critical theorists and having policies to train, foster and promote architectural talents.
The Conference listened to presentations summarizing planning and architecture in the South over the past 50 years from experts: Dr. Architect Ngo Viet Nam Son (Ngo Viet Architects), Master of Architecture Pham Van Phuoc (Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Urban Planning and Architecture), Dr. Architect Nguyen Song Hoan Nguyen (Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture), Dr. Architect Tran Anh Tuan (Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Van Lang University).
Half a century after the country’s reunification, the appearance of our country’s urban architecture has become increasingly spacious, modern and unique. The process of urbanization and the development of the urban system has created an important driving force for economic development, improving people’s lives. Urban and rural architecture in a civilized and modern direction has brought people a sustainable, happy place that is friendly to the environment and to people. Architects have worked tirelessly to create hundreds of thousands of architectural works of economic and aesthetic value, enriching the national architectural treasure and the country’s literary and artistic heritage.
On this occasion, the Vietnam Association of Architects selected 50 typical architectural works in the provinces and cities in the Southern region (including 34 provinces and cities from Quang Tri onwards) based on nominations from local Architects’ Associations. Within the framework of the Conference, these works participated in the exhibition and were awarded the “Certificate of Merit for Typical Architectural Works in the Southern Provinces and Cities – 50 years of national reunification” by the Vietnam Association of Architects.
The Vietnam Architects Association awards Certificates of Merit to authors of outstanding architectural works from southern provinces and cities – 50 Years of National Reunification
The exhibition not only displays typical works but also outstanding creations from the passion and intelligence of many generations of architects dedicated to the development of the country.
In addition to the presentations, the Conference recorded 23 in-depth presentations on urban and rural planning – architecture in the past half century. The Conference provided an overview, objective but profound view of the achievements in the development of architectural planning of the country, including Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces in the Central, Southern and Mekong Delta regions, as well as pointed out the remaining weaknesses that have been limiting the development of architecture in particular and the country’s economy in general.
Concluding the Conference, Dr. Architect Phan Dang Son – Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Architects called on Vietnamese architects to be creative with the spirit of freedom of the Vietnamese people, creating works with national identity, suitable for regional conditions, with the spirit of adaptation, innovation and not just imitation. Besides Ho Chi Minh City, cities across the country also need to have their own forums to clarify architectural identity – each locality plays an important role in the appearance of Vietnamese architecture in the new period.
Half a century of Vietnamese architecture after the country’s reunification is a difficult but also glorious journey that architects have accompanied the whole country through, making great achievements in the cause of Industrialization, Modernization and international integration.
The Conference “Vietnamese Architecture – 50 years of national reunification” helped architects look back on the 50-year journey and think about the gaps that the field of architectural planning still lacks, in order to have a new mindset, new vision, new creativity to strive to develop the country’s architecture sustainably, modernly, civilized and with identity, taking people as the center, in the new era of development, the era of national growth under the leadership of the Party.
Anh Duong
© Vietnam Architecture Magazine
