Hanoi Ad hoc 1.0 interrogates the forgotten lives of industrial factories in the tropical, post-colonial urban context of Hanoi, Vietnam. As part of the national call to rebuild and modernise the nation by Ho Chi Minh in 1966, these industrial factories played a significant role in bringing material culture and abundance in the life of the average Vietnamese. More than mere production facilities, these factories in their diverse architectural forms have shaped the subjectivity of their workers and influenced the everyday lives of the urban populations surrounding them.

Architecture, Factories and (Re)Tracing the Modern Dream of Recent Past

Hanoi Ad Hoc 2.0 will investigate diverse forms of housing in Hanoi, and how dwelling transforms the city through multiple scales of spatial and material intervention. From the motel room as a family bedroom, to the cơi nới appendages of collective housing, to reimagined forms of village identity and collective ways of living, we aim to understand how people sustain and reinvent elements of their everyday lives in innovative and often unpredictable ways. This project seeks to reevaluate adaptation in architecture as co-productions of the city and a critical process which preserves cultural continuity threatened by reconstruction in the city center and land dispossession on the periphery.

Dwelling in Flux (Splitting, Cutting and Intercepting Everyday Lives)

Water has been central to Hanoi's development, initially shaping its settlement around the Red River and its tributaries. Craft villages emerged near West Lake and the Old Quarter, supporting the local economy through agriculture and crafts linked to the region’s waterways. However, urban expansion, especially during the French colonial era, led to significant deforestation and the filling of lakes for development, resulting in over 90% of water areas being lost. This transformation diminished the city’s ability to manage heavy rains and degraded its natural landscape. Despite human efforts to control water, the Red River continues to evolve, creating challenges like sedimentation and the need for artificial water management systems. Thus, water remains a powerful force in shaping Hanoi, reflecting the ongoing interaction between natural dynamics and urban development.