HÀ NỘI – A bamboo building inside Mường Museum, 80 kilometres west of Hà Nội, has just been awarded a silver prize in the Cultural Architecture category by the organisers of the American Architecture Prize 2016.

The structure was also given a prize in the Social Design category at the American Bamboo Society Arts and Crafts Competition in mid-September.

Titled ‘Bamboo – Light of Empty Heart’, the building was designed in 2014 by architect Hoàng Minh and the Hà Nội-based Akasha (Akasa) Company.

It covers a total area of 350sq.m and serves as an art exhibition hall at the Mường Museum, a private museum featuring the ethnic minority Mường group, run by painter Vũ Đức Hiếu in the northern province of Hòa Bình.

“The main idea is to highlight the hidden values of bamboo and easy ways for everyone to build by hand, and save on costs,” Minh said about the concept behind the building, “The construction is designed to enhance the quality of natural light, and uses a vertical bamboo ladder form, a very popular home tool, throughout the composition.”

He added that the other key in the structure is a skylight.

“It makes an example of bamboo elements and is well-suited to art exhibitions at the same time. Here, bamboo structures, utilising empty space, are creating exciting forms,” Minh said.

The American Architecture Prize jury has selected best designs in over 40 categories across the disciplines of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture with the goal of advancing the appreciation of architecture worldwide.

Each submitted design was evaluated by the esteemed AAP Jury on its own merit based on form, function, and innovation.

The American Bamboo Society (ABS) was formed in 1979.

Today the society has about 500 members living throughout the US and in 37 other countries.

The society is a member of the World Bamboo Organisation, an association of bamboo societies throughout the world, which sponsors an international bamboo conference every three years. -- VNS