Japanese speaker, professor, and architect Akihisa Hirata will deliver a speech at TOTO Architect Talk 2022 on December 17. Photo courtesy of TOTO Vietnam

HÀ NỘI — TOTO Architect Talk 2022 is a hotly anticipated forum for the architectural community in Việt Nam, which will be held in Hà Nội on December 17, featuring a speech by famous Japanese speaker and architect Akihisa Hirata.

The annual event, held by TOTO Vietnam since 2017, creates a playground for young architects to show off their talents and also provides an opportunity for the Vietnamese architecture community to exchange with leading Japanese architects.

TOTO Architect Talk in 2017, 2018 and 2019 featured talks by architect Shigeru Ban, Hiroshi Naito and Takaharu Tezuka, respectively.

After a two-year hiatus from the COVID-19 pandemic, the architectural event will come back this year with the topic Discovering New, which is inspired by the journey of discovering the essence of life through architecture by architect Akihisa Hirata, founder of Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office and professor of Kyoto University, Japan. This is also the main message conveyed in a unique and awaiting lecture by its main speaker Hirata.

"New things are an essential part of life, and vitality dwells within things that are constantly being renewed.

"Nevertheless, when I say new, I'm talking about actualising things that already exist but remain hidden—in other words, making architecture by discovering things. I attempt to find new forms in the tangle of things in the living world and to architect Elise the sort of three-dimensional areas that I refer to as karamari Shiro (tangling tabs)," he said.

The Japanese professor has created many iconic buildings in the past 20 years, like the Bloomberg Pavilion, Art Museum & Library: Ota or Tree-ness House. He also lectured at Harvard University, UK Architectural Foundation and Bauhaus Dessau in Germany.

Attending TOTO Architect Talk 2022, Hirata will share the philosophy of "new forms" in architecture that he has accumulated over the years, how he "gives souls" and creates a strange attraction for each of his works. Thereby, visitors will have the opportunity to interact with the renowned architect.

The winners of the Pavilion Design Contest will also be announced at the event. The contest aimed at seeking promising architectural talents was jointly organised by TOTO Vietnam Co., Ltd and the Vietnam Association of Architects from October 21 to November 25 as part of the architectural talk show.

Attendees will also be treated with a "visual feast" that includes an impressive collection of works by architect Akihisa Hirata or a model of the ten best results from the Pavilion design contest.

TOTO Architect Talk 2022 will take place at Lotte Hotel Hanoi, 54 Liễu Giai, Ba Đình. The entrance is free. The talk show will be presented in both English and Vietnamese.  Participants have to register beforehand at toto.com/architecttalk/. VNS