Ho Chi Minh City

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).  In 2005, after twenty years practicing art and architecture in the U.S., he moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to form HTAP, a design partnership with Hoanh Tran.

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.  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. His work, including writings, photos, architecture and interviews, has appeared in books and magazines in the U.S., Germany, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam.

His research, writing and photography center 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.