About 80 km west of Ha Noi, a bamboo building inside the Muong Museum has just been awarded a silver prize in the Cultural Architecture category by the organisers of the 2016 American Architecture Prize.

Bamboo – Light of Empty Heart is designed to enhance the quality of natural light and the vertical bamboo ladder form (Photo courtesy of Akasha)

The building 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 Ha Noi-based Akasha (Akasa) Company.

Covering a total area of 350m2, it serves as an arts exhibition venue at the private-run Muong Museum which features the ethnic minority Muong group. The museum is owned by painter Vu Duc Hieu from Hoa Binh Province.

“The main idea is to highlight the hidden values of bamboo and easy ways for everyone to build by hand, and save costs,” Minh said about the concept behind the building. He remarked “The construction is designed to enhance the quality of natural light, and it 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 arts 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.

Presently, the Society has about 500 members living throughout the USA and in 37 other countries worldwide. The Society is a member of the World Bamboo Organisation, an association of bamboo societies throughout the world.  The organisation sponsors an international bamboo conference every three years.

(Source: VNA/DA NANG Today)