Vietnamese architects bag international awards

The list of winners were released Saturday by Dezeen.

The 'Bat Trang House', designed by VTN Architects, won the "Urban House of The Year" award. Located in Hanoi’s famous Bat Trang ceramic village, the house’s striking feature is its "double skin" made with local sourced perforated ceramic.

'Bat Trang House' in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of VTN Architects

"The house has an original use of material and beautiful light by using the outside as a filtering skin. The look is radical and there are surprising elements that work very well," judges commented.

The house had previously earned 44 percent of public votes in the "Urban House" section in October.

Architecture firm HGAA's 'My Montessori Garden' received the "Civic Building Of The Year."

'My Montessori Garden' in Quang Ninh Province. Photo courtesy of HGAA

Completed in 2019, the steel-framed preschool is located in Ha Long Town, Quang Ninh Province. The goal of the design team was to create a classroom among trees and flowers, creating a natural space for children.

Judges praised "the simplicity of the plan and the complexity of the inside and outside" saying it "works really well for the children.

"The building is drawn to the scale of the kids: micro scale, micro nature, micro levels. The kids look so happy," they said.

The "Emerging Architecture Studio Of The Year" went to ODDO Architects, founded in 2016 by Mai Lan Chi Obtulovicova, Nguyen Duc Trung and Marek Obtulovic. It is based in Vietnam and the Czech Republic.

A house designed by ODDO Architect. Photo courtesy of the architecture firm

"This new practice shows a commitment to reinventing architectural design. The selection of materials and spaces they make in this early work shows a promise of values that speak to the current challenges faced by society including how to stretch modest budgets yet achieve excellence in design," the judges remarked.

ODDO Architects once designed a tube house in Hanoi’s Ha Dong District with a double facade that offered a peaceful escape from bustling city streets.

The Dezeen Awards 2021 attracted more than 4,700 entries from 86 countries and territories.