WORDS ON THE STREET 70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Oct 27, 2016 / 09:43

Bamboo building wins American prizes

A bamboo building inside Muong Museum, 80 kilometres west of Hanoi, has just been awarded a silver prize in the Cultural Architecture category by the organisers of the American Architecture Prize 2016.

The structure was also given a prize in the Social Design category at the American Bamboo Society Arts and Crafts Competition in mid-September.
Titled ‘Bamboo – Light of Empty Heart’, the building was designed in 2014 by architect Hoang Minh and the Hanoi-based Akasha (Akasa) Company.
It covers a total area of 350sq.m and serves as an art exhibition hall at the Muong Museum, a private museum featuring the ethnic minority Muong group, run by painter Vu Duc Hieu in the northern province of Hoa Binh.
The bamboo structure serves as an art pavilion at Mường Museum, 80 kilometres west of Hanoi.
The bamboo structure serves as an art pavilion at Mường Museum, 80 kilometres west of Hanoi.
“The main idea is to highlight the hidden values of bamboo and easy ways for everyone to build by hand, and save on costs,” Minh said about the concept behind the building, “The construction is designed to enhance the quality of natural light, and uses a vertical bamboo ladder form, a very popular home tool, throughout the composition.”
He added that the other key in the structure is a skylight.
“It makes an example of bamboo elements and is well-suited to art exhibitions at the same time. Here, bamboo structures, utilising empty space, are creating exciting forms,” Minh said.
The American Architecture Prize jury has selected best designs in over 40 categories across the disciplines of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture with the goal of advancing the appreciation of architecture worldwide.
Each submitted design was evaluated by the esteemed AAP Jury on its own merit based on form, function, and innovation.
The American Bamboo Society (ABS) was formed in 1979.
Today the society has about 500 members living throughout the US and in 37 other countries.
The society is a member of the World Bamboo Organisation, an association of bamboo societies throughout the world, which sponsors an international bamboo conference every three years.