The Vietnamese architect Lê Lương Ngọc began practising in the late 1990s, and his office, V-Architecture, based in Hanoi, has now been working in Vietnam for nearly twenty-five years. The office is busy, but he still made time to talk and to take us round some of his buildings in Hanoi. He is a man of few words, so most of his views on the profession come through, briefly and to the point, in this conversation.
Why did you choose to become an architect?
Lê Lương Ngọc: For me, becoming an architect was fate.
What do you like most about making architecture?
Lê Lương Ngọc: Dreaming, and making the dream real.
Which architect in the world inspires you?
Lê Lương Ngọc: I don’t look for inspiration from any architect.
What was your first project? Could you describe it?
Lê Lương Ngọc: It’s a simple story. The first project I designed on my own was a villa.
When I met the client, he said, “I want to live in a French-style villa.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Every day on my way to work I pass a lot of villas from the French period, and I quite like them.”
“Then let’s spend some time talking about each detail of those French villas,” I suggested.
About two months later, he said, “I don’t need a French villa any more. Draw whatever you like.”
And I began to design.
When you start designing a project, what do you care about most?
Lê Lương Ngọc: For me, the context.
Gentle House was the first project you shared publicly, in 2015. It was your family home and also your office. Could you tell us about its architecture?
Lê Lương Ngọc: It’s my family’s house in Gia Lam. My office was there for a while, then moved elsewhere. I don’t want to say too much about its architecture. Just one thought.
When we act gently, everything becomes very close. Space is like water: if you place a building into it lightly, without “stirring it up”, everything stays whole and becomes one harmonious body.
V-Architecture’s buildings emphasise physics, energy and material solutions. Why this kind of architecture?
Lê Lương Ngọc: For me, all of those make real architecture.
What do you think of sustainable architecture? How should Vietnam approach it?
Lê Lương Ngọc: Architecture of course has to be sustainable. In Vietnam, I think we should learn from our ancestors: “when you enter a house, follow its customs”, “watch the pot when you eat, watch the direction when you sit”, and “measure the rice before you pick the fish sauce”.
Which material do you like most? Why?
Lê Lương Ngọc: People.
That’s the “material” that makes us most miserable, and also most happy, in making architecture.
How do you see traditional architecture today? Is there a link between V-Architecture’s projects and the buildings our ancestors left us? Could you give examples?
Lê Lương Ngọc: We look for what is good and practically valuable in traditional architecture and apply it to buildings today. DesigN’N, for instance, was designed in the spirit of a communal house, with no boundaries, very free. At Gi House we made the kind of space where “in the dark, with no lamp lit, we still have each other”.
Re House was designed so its spaces let you sense nature through the light. Whenever I’m asked about it, I use the old saying: “when the sky glows like chicken fat, whoever has a house, brace it.”
Looking at the world now, what have architecture and architects achieved, and what needs special attention?
Lê Lương Ngọc: Contemporary architecture has blurred the boundaries between people in society, but without meaning to, that has made architecture “ordinary”.
That’s what I think.
Over many years of practice, what has changed in you, and what hasn’t?
Lê Lương Ngọc: I’ve grown old. Everything else is the same.
How important is intuition in your work?
Lê Lương Ngọc: When I make architecture, I begin with intuition.
Have you ever thought about future projects, and imagined what architecture will be like?
Lê Lương Ngọc: I have thought about an “optimal” material, one that could meet people’s physical and non-physical needs and be transformed within the cycle of nature. Then [someone] will help us bring our feelings and needs to life.
What message do you want each of your buildings to carry?
Lê Lương Ngọc: Be gentle.
What building would you most like to make in your life?
Lê Lương Ngọc: A pagoda.
If you weren’t an architect, what would you be?
Lê Lương Ngọc: I’ve never thought about it. I asked my daughter, and she said, “You’d suit being a parking attendant.”
Interview by Anh Nguyen, November 2021. Photos by Trieu Chien.