Antidote to Burnout

Carelessness in construction in Vietnam

2009-11-21T12:01:31+07:00

The following article on 20 November 2009 from Thanh Nien News Online (English version) tells an unfortunately common story about construction mishaps in Vietnam:

Quang Ninh resident dies in bizarre housing accident


A house in Quang Ninh Province tilted and crashed into another on Monday night, killing a person

A man watching TV on the third floor of his house in Quang Ninh Province was killed in bizarre fashion when a wall collapsed on him on Monday night.

The accident happened when a neighboring three-storied building tilted and fell across a vacant land plot and crashed into his house.

Fifty-year-old Tran Van Suu died on the way to the hospital. Ironically, Suu’s house was also office of the Construction Testing Center of Bach Dang Construction Joint Stock Co., newswire Vnexpress said Tuesday.

Phung Trong Chien, a resident of the house that fell, was quoted by the newswire as saying that excavators and diggers were sent to the plot besides his house in the morning, and his house started to produce cracking sounds at around 7p.m. It fell an hour later when his family was having dinner on the second floor.

The family members climbed to safety into another adjacent house, Chien said. The second and third stories of the construction center were heavily damaged.

It was late found that work on the vacant plot of land was proceeding illegally, laying the foundation for a new house without a construction permit.

Quang Ninh authorities that same night ordered that the fallen house be pulled down to prevent further damage to other houses in the area.

Investigations have been launched to find out the cause of the collapse.

Source: Thanh Nien

In this case, it is apparent that the house that tilted did not rest on piles as it should be. Then when constructors came in to excavate the adjacent lot for a new house foundation, they probably did not shore up the existing houses adjacent to them.

In many ways, Vietnam is a much more libertarian country than most western countries. There is a prevailing attitude that I will look out for my own interests only and my neighbors can look out for their own interests. And much of the government is set up to let private interests do as they please. In the construction industry, the government only gets involved after an incident like this. The government depends upon private industry to police themselves. The government does not inspect construction sites or send out safety inspectors.

The government does issue construction permits based upon schematic designs to check fit with planning criteria, but does not review and approve construction plans.

And the government and the citizens both seem oblivious to safety issues. On a site along Phan Dăng Lưu Street close to Phan Xích Long Street in the Phú Nhuận District, a contractor a year ago demolished a large four-story building. Unfortunately, the contractor did not finish the job, leaving debris all over the site and portions of the old building at the corners, such as this section cantilevering out over the public sidewalk:

or this section on the other corner:

This is carelessness, but more importantly, it is irresponsibility. The contractor didn't care -- he left a mess for the land owner. The land owner doesn't care -- it was the contractor's fault (or perhaps the owner's fault because he didn't pay the contractor?) The government doesn't seem to care. So a public hazard continues to exist.

Where traditional architecture makes sense

2009-11-18T16:44:02+07:00

A look through the postings on this blog should convince you that I sincerely appreciate the modernist architecture developed by Vietnamese architects over that past six decades. But I am actually an architect that is searching for the new architecture that represents the information age -- an architecture beyond the deconstructivism currently in vogue. I hope to write more about this in the near future.

I believe architecture should reflect the society and culture of one's time and circumstances. That is why I believe in Vietnamese modernist architecture so much -- it fits into the the culture and history of Vietnam very well, and has become the predominant architectural style for southern Vietnamese houses. It fits the tropical climate and local materials and methods very well, although there are some internal planning improvements to enhance energy conservation that I think Vietnamese architects should consider.

But there are societies today where traditional architecture, materials and methods continue to make sense today. The story in the New York Times recently about architecture in ancient Yemen presents a culture that has changed little over the decades, partly due to xenophobic isolation. Therefore craftsmen continue to train in the old methods and use the old materials to form spaces that continue to be used as they have been for the millenium.

Photo by Bryon Denton for the New York Times

Although this architecture would make no sense in tropical Vietnam, for example, we could learn much about the sustainability that these old material provide and adapt some of these principles to similar materials used here.

But even Yemen will change with the increasing pace of the information age in the coming years. It will be interesting to see how the Yemeni's continue to adapt this architecture to the inevitable changes to come in their society and culture.

More healthy food?

2009-11-12T13:50:12+07:00

I do not intend this blog to become a food blog, but good eating is such an important benefit of living in Vietnam. So I occasionally post on a current food subject. In my posting on 9 August 2009 regarding Healthy Eating in Vietnam, I mentioned that we have a great cook to provide lunch for us in our office. While the food is normally fairly standard Vietnamese cơm bình dân lunchtime fare, we occasionally are offered something a bit more interesting.

Yesterday at lunch, I sat down to see what I thought were pork stomach or intestine segments, which are fairly common in Vietnamese dishes.

But no -- I was told that these were fish stomachs, catfish stomachs. Tasted good. Probably very healthy -- haven't checked my cholesterol lately, though.

Questions about modernist architecture

2009-11-01T14:51:46+07:00

avo provided some very thought-provoking questions about modernist architecture for houses in Vietnam on my posting of HCMC House 12. Rather than provide a response back in the comments to the posting, I want to publish it here for greater visibility as well as to get back into posting about Vietnamese modernist architecture.

avo asked "does any of those angle facade elements have anything to do with the surrounding environment?" The direct answer is no, which is typical of modernist architecture for houses in southern Vietnam. The surrounding environment is usually more houses of the same form and height. Since the only exposed part of these houses is the street facade, the style of architecture can be expressed here and therefore can reflect the tastes of the owner or the architect or contractor. Some of these houses will have traditional styles, while many will be modernist. While the choice of a traditional style can be considered to be an emotional choice (at least I see it that way), a modernist composition becomes much more intellectual in the many choices that must be made regarding materials, finishes, textures, forms, lines, and colors. In the traditional style, these choices are prescribed by the style itself.

In this case, the architect's organizing principle is the composition of angled forms and the warped surfaces. The only objective is to make a pleasing composition using the window and door framing within the openings. This leads to avo's implied question in this statement: "The house might have its own appearance (maybe a different look with other typical Vietnamese "tube" house), but modernist architecture might have been gone deeper into functional rather than aesthetic look." That is historically true of modernist architecture -- "form follows function" has been a major principle of modernism. In this case, the architect has brought the exterior skin in front of the structural frame to address the function of keeping the weather out of the house while allowing views out. But this function must be accommodated in every house. What is different and important here is the intellectual choices made to carry out an unusual idea about the warping of surfaces.

avo also asked if the design of House 12 depends on "uses of occupations? or nothing but just the style of the architect?" I believe the style of the architect is the architecture of House 12. As I have stated above, the principles of Vietnamese modernist architecture for townhouses deal with resolving the functions of structure, weather proofing, ventilation, views, and light for the house, but most importantly, involves presentation of an intellectual idea that is expressed in the composition of the facade. I have not determined any differences in modernist facades that indicate either an occupation of a home-owner or of any commercial activities that might occur in the house. On the other hand, the ground floor facade of houses along busy streets does relate mostly to the commercial activities on the ground floor, and usually has nothing to do with the design of the house above.

No more construction voreurism

2009-09-20T20:39:36+07:00

As much as I love construction and watching the contractor behind my house manage the construction site, my wife is making us relocate way the hell out there in District 6, where she was born long ago. She made this decision based purely on economic issues (much, much cheaper out there), but she likes to keep the bedroom window open, and that is impossible nowadays with the construction running full tilt 24 hours a day.

I must admit that I finally concluded that two years of high decibel noise at night time was not going to be good for me.

There is always one hole being drilled and one hole being set up with reinforcing bars and concrete poured, always at night.

This photo was taken on Sunday morning so the usual morning shift of ironworkers was not in to make rebar cages, but made it for the afternoon shift.

In this night shot on Sunday evening, the ironworkers are hard at work,

while the drillers are drilling and the rebar cages are being set.

Light pollution is also an issue on these 24-hour-a-day construction sites. By midnight, the rebar cage at the extreme left will be set down the hole and the concrete trucks will arrive.

Building Construction Week 19

2009-08-31T09:01:44+07:00

This week the contractor brought in infrastructure to support the work and make operations on the site less messy. Foundation construction is inherently messy in Vietnam since most large building foundations involve drilled piers using massive quantities of water mixed with bentonite clay to stabilize the holes until rebars and concrete are poured in them. The usual construction site is a muddy mess.

This contractor has given a lot of thought about how to layout and do the work, and has prepared the site to be neat and orderly. I notice now that CoteCcons is the main contractor, and they have all the sheds painted two colors of green. They are one of the largest Vietnamese construction companies in Vietnam, and seem to be particularly well-run.

The two concrete runways will make movement of equipment and materials through the site easier and cleaner. The layout is undoubtedly coordinated with the layout of the drilled piers. The concrete pad on the right will be the staging area for the reinforcing bar cages to be dropped into the holes. Brick foundations were formed to support the sheds and keep them out of the mud.