A Restrained Practice

Left to right

Courtesy of VTN Architects, Mutsuno Yasuhiro, Mutsuno Yasuhiro, unsplash.com/@ tonyphamvn

early morning

Võ Trọng Nghĩa wakes up as early as 3 a.m. to study English. Before his lessons at six, he reads foreign newspapers and listens to talks. ‘I'm already 44 years old, so I'm surprised that I can still learn English. It's not easy to learn a new language when you're old, is it?' asks the venerable architect, who speaks fluent Japanese thanks to a decade spent in Tokyo as a young architect. Though he finds English difficult to learn, he says it's the best way for him to better communicate his philosophy to people around the world.

morning

After breakfast, Nghĩa makes his way to the office. His firm VTN Architects' headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City runs on solar panels, with a builtin system to recycle rainwater for plumbing and gardening. Greenery envelops the space, mitigating urban heat while encouraging the staff to reconnect with nature.‘It's like working in a forest,' he says. Some mornings he meditates alongside his team; he believes that good architecture comes naturally when one's mind is present. The firm is a hybrid of an architectural office and a monastery — the team devotes hours to meditation, sometimes more than the time spent working directly on projects.

Vietnamese architect Võ Tr ng Nghĩa spent the last three years meditating in the hills of Myanmar. He returned home to Ho Chi Minh City for a short visit during Lunar New Year in 2020, but ended up staying on due to the pandemic. These days, he spends most of his time learning English. We spent a day with him to find out more about his unique philosophy.

mid-morning

Mid-mornings are spent in design meetings with the team, which is made up of about 35 architects. Within two hours, they can get through as many as ten projects. According to Nghĩa, constant meditation and strict moral codes enable a person to become happier and more productive, and are the best way to build trust and invite calm amid the chaos facing the world. The five Buddhist precepts that guide the office — from people management to design decisions — include honesty and gentleness, as well as abstinence from alcohol.

afternoon

By 12.30, Nghĩa is on his way home — a ten-minute walk from the office — for lunch with his wife and sixyear-old daughter. ‘We live next to the Saigon River, which I can see from my living room. We don't experience any traffic jams or pollution here,' he says. Afterward, he takes a long nap, and begins a ‘new day' when he awakes. ‘I divide my day into two: from 4 a.m. to lunchtime, and then from 3 p.m. to half past eight,' he explains, adding that this is the most productive way for him to master English, as well as keeping appointments and email correspondence minimal.

evening

After work, Nghĩa enjoys homecooked Vietnamese food and spends the night watching English movies or reading books with his daughter. ‘Every day is almost the same. I only recognise that it's the weekend after trying to call my staff — when they don't answer, that's when I realise that I don't have to go to the office,' he laughs. Apart from learning English, he's focused on his long-term goals of building free meditation centres and planting more trees around the country. Nghĩa's architecture is a byproduct of the way he lives, grounded by values of simplicity and honesty, with a deep respect for the natural world.