Sustainability for a majority of the planet is not so much about avoiding energy losses but about preventing undesired energy gains. In simple terms, it’s about using as little air conditioning as possible instead of saving in heating bills. In addition to this, industrialized building products tend to travel long distances from the places they are fabricated to their construction sites, adding transportation emissions to the energy expended in their production.
So whoever tries to build shaded, fresh, cross-ventilated spaces with local materials is worthy of being studied. In the case of Vo Trong Nghia, in addition to the use of local materials he is trying to uncover an architectural language that can develop locality without nostalgia but as a valid voice capable of enriching instead of imitating the global architectural debate. His innovation is to create buildings that are as clear and neutral as infrastructure and as free and welcoming as landscape.
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