Hommel Beer Factory
BIA HOI CULTURE'S ORIGIN: FROM A COLONICAL DRINKING TO A CULTURE OF URBAN DWELLERS
Introduction
Before the French colonization, Vietnam had a long history of rice alcohol production. The beer industry was created in 1892 by Alfred Hommel, founder of Hommel Brewery (Brasserie Hommel) in Hanoi. Along with the Larue Brewery (Brasserie Larue) in Saigon, the Hommel Brewery was one of the two biggest breweries in Indochina.
Beer was the drink that seemed most suitable in the Indochina climate. At first, beer was mainly consumed by the French, then it became more and more popular with local Vietnamese people.
Besides water, the ingredients used by the Hommel Brewery were malted barley and hops imported from Europe and a proportion of rice (preferably denitrogenated). The difficulty was not in the purchase of ingredients of first quality, but in purifying water used, acquiring expensive brewing equipment, and adapting it to the hot and humid climate of Hanoi. Another challenge for the production of bottled beer was transportation. The brewery came up with the idea of producing a draft beer called bia hoi sold in kegs instead of bottles. Over time, bia hoi became a staple of Vietnamese culture and it remains so to this day.
Name: Brasserie Hommel / Société de la Brasserie Hommel / Société des Brasseries et Glacières de l'Indochine / Hanoi Brewery / Hanoi Brewery Company / Hanoi Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Habeco)
Location: 183 Hoang Hoa Tham, Ha Noi
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Chronological timeline
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Agents
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Investigations
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Architectural and Urban preliminary assessment
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Perspective / Thematic / Narrative point of view
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Bibliography
22.04.2022
Ad Hoc Talk 04: From cottage industrialization to in-situ urbanization
How is the individual and collective relationship between the indigenous dwarfs and the giants - industrial factories, and their interactions with the city from the perspective of development researchers?
15.09.2021
Ad Hoc Talk 03: Encounters with Architectural Modernism in Vietnam
Deliberated a discussion on the influence and linkage of large-scale housing development for industrial, social infrastructure design in Vinh, and also the modernist building types found expressed in the buildings constructed by the populace in the South.
27.07.2021
Ad Hoc Talk 02:
Surviving the fantasies of modernization
The role of urban women factory workers in shaping a modernist vision.
A history of this underlying era can form the basis of new questions on how to best navigate the contemporary transition occurring in cities’ socio-cultural, built, and urban architecture.
26.05.2021
Ad Hoc Talk 01: Circulative Mapping
This open course will explore the cartographic possibilities of geographic information systems (GIS) to visualize the flow of material in space across continents.
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08.06.2021
"Other lives of post-industrial architecture" - Mai Hung Trung
Discuss "Other lives of post-industrial architecture'' - Discussion on Lacaton & Vassal".
