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
1.0
Chronological timeline
2.0
Agents
3.0
Investigations
4.0
Architectural and Urban preliminary assessment
5.0
Perspective / Thematic / Narrative point of view
6.0
Bibliography
Project Manager
Trang PHAM
Architect
Senior Researcher
Ylan K VO
Designer. Researcher
The Adhocers
Hanoi Team
Duy - Hung VU
Huy - Viet PHUNG
Minh - Tuan HA
Phuong - Anh NGUYEN
Marilyn - Pham DACUSIN
Nam - Ba DO
Ha - Ngan HOANG
Phong PHUONG
Quan DAO
Ha NGUYEN
The Hiep NGUYEN
Minh Trang NGUYEN
Hung LE
Minh Hien VU
EU Team
Ba Kadidia
Tung NGUYEN
Kyohei TAKAHASHI
Thien Tam TRAN
Brenda NGUYEN
Mai - Huong NGUYEN
Contributors
Conor DESANTIS
GIS and Mapping Consultant
Université de Montréal, Canada
Viet PHAM & Ngoc BUI
GA6 Workshop
National University of CivilEngineering, VN
Duy MAC
Ph.D. Student
The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Hai NGUYEN
Institute for Social, Economic and Environmental Research
Thomas LACOUR - VEYRANNE
Architect
Urban planner
Nobuo YOSHIDA
Architect, Project leader
Atelier Jean Nouvel
Francesco MONTRESOR
Architect
Elise LUONG
Undecided Productions
Artistic Consultant