The mastermind of modified wooden houses in northern Vietnam

An architect has put all of his energy and craftsmanship into re-creating age-old wooden houses typical of his hometown, by retouching new structures with modern features.

Architect Nguyen Giang is a native of Chang Son, a long-established wood-carving village located in Thach That District in Hanoi's outlying town of Son Tay.

Legend has it that the master artisan Pho San, initiator of the village’s craft, was tasked with restoring pillars at one of the country’s hallmark temples by a senior deity.

Long preoccupied with preserving the charm of ancient wooden houses in northern Vietnam, Giang is single-mindedly set on blending his village’s craft with modern architecture.

Architect Nguyen Giang poses with his ‘nghe’ (stylized dog) statues. Photo: Le Thiet Cuong

Since the age of nine or ten, Giang would practice wood carving under the instruction of his great uncle.

During his four years as a university architecture student in Hanoi from 1999 to 2004, he was obsessed with the nagging question of why traditional Vietnamese architecture has gone almost unnoticed in university curricula.

Upon graduation, Giang worked for around six months at a private interior décor firm before one of his university classmates referred him for a project to construct a wooden house in the northern province of Hung Yen in 2005 thanks to his reputation in woodworking.

The project presented a priceless opportunity and also a formidable challenge for a fresh graduate, and was also a risky decision taken by the house owner, as building such an ancient-looking wooden mansion cost a handsome sum of money back then.

However, upon the completion of the house, the owner asked Giang if he had given it his best shot and if he could do a better job.

Never did the young man envision that his honest answer of ‘no’ would leave him dismantling the newly erected house and rebuilding it from scratch on the owner’s request.

 The richly decorative patterns on a girder of an old-style wooden house. Photo: Le Thiet Cuong

The house owner’s second bold decision took Giang an additional nine months more than planned, but elevated his first-ever work to a new height, with him incorporating handy features, such as a kitchen and restrooms, into the old-style edifice instead of placing them outside.

The house owner’s two above questions later became Giang’s philosophy, which he has fallen back on while reconstructing nearly 20 old-style houses throughout the country.

Modified old-style houses

Apart from its obvious strength as an environmentally-friendly structure which also fits with its natural environs, traditional old-style wooden mansions, particularly those in northern Vietnam, have intrinsic weaknesses including a limited area and height, and a lack of personal space and indoor kitchens or toilets.

A number of these types of houses are also prone to high humidity, moldy walls and are not well-lit.

“Reconstructing a perfect replica of an authentic age-old edifice should be undertaken by museums only. My job is to preserve such heritage in a sustainable way by building wooden houses the way that allows them to meet owners’ modern requirements,” Giang noted.

However, the architect always makes it a point to retain traits typical of century-old wooden edifices which have been missing from modern houses, including a worshipping chamber and the space where family members gather at the house’s heart.

Giang’s works also tell vivid stories through exquisite carvings, which are not limited to conventional themes such as four seasons and four sacred animals, namely the dragon, kylin, tortoise and phoenix.

The sculptures of his retouched houses boast diverse historical topics, ranging from the country’s legendary parents Lac Long Quan and Au Co, national old-time heroes; folk images from Dong Ho woodblocks and Hang Trong paintings native to the northern province of Bac Ninh; to religious icons.    

“My houses must accentuate tales of Vietnamese culture, contemporary stories or even house owners’ personal accounts,” he noted.

A seasoned artisan is pictured working on a wooden carving detail. Photo: Le Thiet Cuong

Giang takes great delight in his chosen career, which indulges his passion and provides him with a good income as well.

He even selects his own clientele to make the most of his workmanship and often turns work down.

In early 2014, his ‘Go Giang’ (Giang’s Wood) trademark made its way to southern Vietnam.

One homeowner, who resides in the suburban district of Cu Chi in Ho Chi Minh City, had had no attachment to or first-hand experience with time-honored edifices in northern provinces.

The architect and his customer, though, found a common voice and completed the mansion to their satisfaction after nearly one year.

Sophisticated Chang Son sculpting details coupled with the resource-rich land and people’s open-mindedness in the southern locality have resulted in a wondrous wooden house.

Giang finds Ho Chi Minh City and other southern locales a potentially rich market for his future work, including houses, religious facilities and resorts in the future.

The aspiring architect has also planned to write a book highlighting the wooden architecture indigenous to the northern delta in a bid to retain its long-standing cultural traits.

He has also instilled his infatuation with ancient decorative patterns, mostly ‘nghe’ (stylized dog) statues, a dominant highlight during the Le Dynasty, to young workers and artisans. 

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