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Ho Chi Minh is my second trip to Vietnam. The first was Nha Trang, but what I remembered was the high-end resort and motorcycle exhaust, but this time I thought I had properly experienced Vietnam. This time, I organized my thoughts on typography, graphics, and architecture that I saw in Ho Chi Minh.
*This time, the couple recorded their trip from their own perspectives and ways. Take a look at Sophie's travels to Ho Chi Minh, which looks at the city from a social scientific perspective such as history, economy, and politics!
Ho Chi Minh Travels 1 – Sophie's analysis of Vietnamese culture and people
I was surprised that there were so many people at the entrance and exit of Tan Son Nhat Airport. Because Vietnam is long from north to south, it is said that it is highly dependent on moving by air. Domestic flights are much more complicated, but international flights are said to be less crowded. The airport is right in the city center, so it was good to get around. I was able to look around Ho Chi Minh using Grab. More than anything, I felt like I was going to live without wearing a mask. Of course, a mask was a must when touring motorcycles.
Traffic in Vietnam seems to be almost the same. know enough Motorcycles and cars are intertwined like a huge river. I also saw a U-turn attempt at the end of the 4th lane. Since there is so much traffic, it seems that there are no major accidents, probably because everyone drives less than 20 kilometers. Even at midnight, I was surprised by the number of people and motorcycles on the side of the road. I wondered if it was because the sun was hot during the day or because I was active after the sun went down.
Most notable was the Latin sign. I often saw plastic signs using old-style American red and blue letters. I was used to the vertically stretched typography. Graphic designers also use vertical typefaces in the name of Vietnam's retro style.
Before French colonial rule, Vietnamese Chinese characters and native Vietnamese characters were used, but after French colonial rule, Vietnamese is written using Quốc ngữ, which expresses Vietnamese in Roman characters. Vietnamese typography is unique in expressing as many as six tones. He also develops a typographic style using the carat, a symbol that expresses tones.
When you think of Vietnam, propaganda unique to a communist country immediately comes to mind with a yellow star against an intense red background. This time around Ho Chi Minh City, my thoughts changed. I was able to meet the colorful and unique Vietnamis Vietnamese.
I was impressed with the traditional yellow-based red points and the low-saturation pink and green for colorful expressions. The overall impression of the city was soft pastel tones rather than vividly saturated rain forest.
The fairy tale composition and print-like texture provide a tasteful visual experience. When expressed in a single color, it gives the impression of painting on a metal plate or wall. Graphics used on paper often have a texture that gives the impression of being drawn with colored pencils or crayons. The composition and description are not accurately separated, and the illustrations that subtly balance the slightly displaced forms are sleek.
Ho Chi Minh City has many tall houses. Many of the old traditional buildings were horizontally wide, so it seemed that they were influenced by the modern French colonial style rather than traditional features. There is a theory that in the past, during the French colonial period, housing tax was levied based on the horizontal area of the building facing the road.
Another theory is that it is a result of socialism. Vietnam is a socialist country where land is allocated by the state. Income-generating land was leased or allocated to businesses, and non-income-generating land was allocated for residential use. It is said that land that does not generate profits can be bought and sold.
So people built narrowly to build as many buildings as possible on the allotted land to pay less taxes. It is said that the first floor shop that reached the road was profitable, so everyone started building it, and at some point there was no turning back.
Usually in Asia, the focus is on old religious buildings and modern high-rise towers. In Ho Chi Minh, I was able to find unique Modernist architecture unlike any other. From 1940 to 1975, the golden age of modernist architecture in Vietnam, major public buildings such as hospitals and hotels were built.
Notable landmarks include the Caravelle Hotel designed by Nguyen Van Hoa, the Thong Nhat Hospital designed by Tran Dinh Quyen, and the modern redesigned Independence Palace by Ngo Viet Thu, the only Asian architect to have won the Prix de Rome. Among the many modernist buildings, the most impressive was Lê Văn Lắm's General Science Library and VAR building.
He presented a modernist architecture suitable for hot and humid climates that went beyond monotonous variations on rectangular shapes. With a double skin structure, thin reinforced concrete crosses vertical and horizontal lines in a rhythmic pattern, giving the impression that the fabric is moving.
The war with France for independence, the war with the United States for ideology, and the war with China after the reunification of Vietnam. Vietnam had the strongest image of a strong man who fought and won against many strong opponents.
Contrary to the combative image I had before, Ho Chi Minh City was a wonderful city full of experiences that could not be found anywhere else. It was said that the quick absorption of good things and making them one's own is similar to Seoul in Korea, so I was able to clearly understand what it meant.
Based on strong pride, Ho Chi Minh City can feel the attitude of accepting what is needed for the future throughout the city. Every time I visit again, I feel like I can make new discoveries.
The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Art presents works of art from various eras. The other exhibits were good, but I especially liked the craft museum in the annex. I felt that there were many works that I could see only because I was in Vietnam. You can find a lot of handicrafts that allow you to feel the nature without being too saturated and colorful.
This is a street restaurant where you can eat banana glutinous rice cake. It is said to be a huge restaurant that sells thousands of them a day. It's an amazing dessert that wraps a grilled banana in scorched rice cake, burns it three times in a banana leaf, and serves it with warm coconut milk. You won't get tired of it even if you eat it 2 or 3 times.
It is a wonderful space where you can feel the love for coffee. This is a place where the pleasant smile of the cafe manager makes the coffee taste better. It collaborates with photographers for exhibitions, and there is also a workshop space upstairs. It was cute that there were also coffee trees. You can experience strong coffee unique to Vietnam's Robusta and egg coffee with a unique taste.
I felt good from the day I arrived. You can feel the delicate agony that each and every prop that decorates the room must have painstakingly chosen. The nicely decorated interior is great, but the outdoor bathtub is fantastic. It's close to the city center, so it's a good location for traveling or walking.
An Asian fusion restaurant in District 2. Any restaurant in Ho Chi Minh is delicious, but this one was the most delicious. The refined taste is wonderful with a neat combination of fresh vegetables.
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