Hoanh Tran and Archie Pizzini (of HTAP Studio) have always loved cities – the density, the motion, the mix of people and purposes. Seeing architecture as ‘Problem Solving with Style’, fascinated with contemporary design, and highly responsive towards changes in urban life, they have dedicated their research over the last decade, on the transformation of architecture as a global industry – particularly compelled by how architecture in Vietnam operates quite unlike anywhere else in the world. For Creative Session 8, the duo will share the core inspiration of their practice concerning the interdependence of society in the cities we live and the broader impact of our choices, via 5 main projects in Ho Chi Minh City: HTAP studio, The Factory, Galerie Quynh (Đồng Khởi st.,) and Rice Creative office.
Hoanh Tran, Ph.D, is a Vietnamese American architect who studied at Columbia University in New York City (MS Historic Preservation), SCI-Arc in Los Angeles (M.Arch), and RMIT Melbourne (Ph.D. Architecture). Hoanh’s practice includes designing, teaching, researching and writing. He has been teaching since 2008 at various institutions, most recently at the RMIT Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Design programs. He has been actively involved with the Ho Chi Minh City Architecture University in various roles as thesis advisor and examiner. Hoanh’s research focuses mainly on cities. He is fascinated with the contemporary responses to the super-dense urban context. He views cities as accumulating strata where design can intervene in the process of deleting, adding and weaving. Hoanh gives lectures about design and cities and preservation. He also writes columns and articles for various journals and websites. His work, including his design projects and writings and interviews, has been published in Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Turkey and Germany.
Archie Pizzini, PhD, is an American architect, artist and teacher educated at Rice University (BA Architecture, BFA Painting), the University of Houston (MArch), and RMIT University in Melbourne (PhD Architecture). His research, writing and photography centers on close observation of the built and social context, with emphasis on making and improvisation. His design work is often inspired by this and contains an idea that everyday design solutions by non-designers, as seen in places like Vietnam, often demonstrate a relevance through economy, elegance, sustainability and resilience that could immensely benefit design efforts throughout the world. He has taught through various universities including the Ho Chi Minh City Architecture University and the RMIT Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Design programs. In addition to being a Design Principal at HTAP, since 2005, he maintains a parallel career as an artist, having had many exhibitions over a thirty-year career, including several recent shows of his photography in Vietnam and Japan. In his work the two strands of art and architecture combine to push his ideas further. His work, including writings, photos, architecture and interviews, has appeared in books and magazines in the U.S., Germany, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam. After twenty years practicing art and architecture in the U.S., Archie Pizzini moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to form HTAP Architects, a design partnership with Hoanh Tran in 2004. Their design-focused projects range from small scale boutique galleries to larger scale resorts.
They both currently live and work in Ho Chi Minh City.
‘Creative Sessions’ is about sharing the inspiration behind creative thinking in Vietnam. Whether you are an artist, architect, chef, fashion designer, illustrator, musician, scientist or writer, these ‘sessions’ seek to demonstrate how creativity can be about allowing our minds to open up, that it may be as much about learning a discipline as it is about taking wonder in the everyday present moment.
Please purchase entrance ticket (VND35,000) at the Arts Centre reception. This fee gives you access to our exhibitions, reading room and public programs. For further information, please click here.
**Participants of the event allow The Factory and co-organizer (if applicable) to use their images and statements as documentary for the program, for non-commercial purposes such as: archive, press, media, promotion on our website, Facebook etc
