HTT Architect & Associates

VNRE - HTT Group is a corporation comprising the firms HTT Architect & Associates (founded in 2002 in Hanoi, Vietnam), HTT Architecture & Investment (2007, HCMC) and HTT Creative (2005, Hanoi).

HTT Group was founded by prominent French-Vietnamese architect Mr. Ho Thieu Tri, renowned for his renovation of The Hanoi Opera House, among many signature projects throughout Vietnam and worldwide.

With a group of over 100 experienced architects and designers, HTT Group is proud to continue delivering major large-scale projects, developing Ho Thieu Tri’s vision and contributing to the development of Vietnam into the 21st Century.

The foundation of HTT Group’s success in Vietnam has been our ability to consistently combine our experience in international design with our profound understanding of Vietnamese culture and environment.

This unique status among the leading architectural practices based in Vietnam has earned Ho Thieu Tri and HTT Group numerous awards and titles, including the Vietnam Glory Award in 2004 for Ho Thieu Tri’s contribution to the architectural development of Vietnam, and regular BCI Vietnam Top Ten Awards Nominations.

Chairman

Mr. Ho Thieu Tri, Founder and Principal Architect of HTT Group, is a member of the French Society of Architects. He graduated as an architect at the University of Saigon in 1973 and also studied for an urban planning certificate at San Diego University (USA) in 1984. During his stay in France, Mr. Ho worked for DEVINOY Architecture. He became a full partner at CR Architecture, architects of Stade de France Stadium. After establishing his own pratice in Paris in 1995, Mr. Ho started working on projects in Vietnam. His first project in Vietnam was the Renovation of Hanoi Opera house. After which, Mr. Ho established his production design studio in Hanoi named Ho Thieu Tri Architecte Esas in 1998 which is now fully licienced as Ho Thieu Tri Architect and Associates Company.

Titles

- 2004: Vietnam Glory Award
- 2004 - 2005: Special Advisor to Vinh Phuc People Committee in Urbanism and Architecture
- 2005 - 2006: Special Advisor to Kien Giang province Officals in Urbanism and Architecture.

Timeline

- 1995: Upon returning to Vietnam to work on the renovation of the Hanoi Opera House, Ho Thieu Tri creates the architectural firm Ho Thieu Tri Architecte Esas in Hanoi, Vietnam.

- 2002: After 7 years of development, Ho Thieu Tri Architecte Esas is renamed Ho Thieu Tri (HTT) Architect & Associates as a restructured design firm specializing in architecture, urban planning and interior design. The firm also expands with the opening of the Ho Chi Minh City branch.

- 2005: The interior design department of HTT Architect & Associates becomes a wholly independent design firm: HTT Creative based in Hanoi, Vietnam, specializing in interior decoration, furniture manufacturing and graphic design.

- 2007: Ho Thieu & Trung Architecture & Investment is founded in Ho Chi Minh City, specialising in architectural design, urban planning and project development consultancy and investment.

The 3 companies, HTT Architect & Associates in Hanoi, HTT Architecture & Investment in Ho Chi Minh City and HTT Creative in Hanoi, are reunited under a same corporate group: HTT Group.

Contact:

HTT Architect & Associates
Add: 9th floor, Dai Phat Office Building
Duy Tan Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi
Tel: 84.4.3719 1216 - Fax: 84.4.3719 1215
Email: hanoi@htt-group.com - Website: http://htt-group.com/

HTT Creative
Add: 10th floor, Dai Phat Office Building
Duy Tan Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi
Tel: 84.4.2212 5487 - Fax: 84.4.3719 1215
Email: creative@htt-group.com

HTT Architecture & Investment
Add: 6th floor, Thao Dien Office Building
25 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: 84.8.3841 1788 -  3841 1799 - Fax: 84.8.3841 1911
Email: hcmc@htt-group.com

CR Architecture
Add: 59 rue du Fauburg Saint Antoine, 75010 Paris, France
Tel: 33.1.4372 0440
Email: cr@cr-architecture.fr

Indochina Land Tower

VNRE - Indochina Tower is a 14,000m2 International Standard Grade A office building being developed by Indochina Land and OPV. The building is located on a key downtown site in Ho Chi Minh City along one of the town’s major streets, Dien Bien Phu. Indochina Tower has been designed to accommodate the corporate headquarters of both groups as well as providing lettable speculative office space. The concept for the design is to create modern, efficient office space within the framework of a ‘GREEN’ building. The ‘GREEN’ features of the building include an environmentally-designed façade, a ground floor water garden, a sky garden on the top floor and a double height mezzanine floor at level 12. The project is planned to be LEED certified and incorporates a range of sustainable design technologies from shading, orientation and the buildings control system.

Orientation and massing

The constrained site offer limited opportunities for modulating the shape of the building to the climatic conditions. Positioning of the core on the NW side of the building allows for the heavy structural concrete core to act as an insulating barrier from the westerly sun.

Building shape

The shallow plan and 2.8m ceiling height allows natural light to reach across the floor plate of building from the glazed NE/SE facades. This minimises the necessity for artificial lighting systems and combined with lighting control systems will regulate the amount of artificial light required.

Solar Control

Solar heat and glare on the glazed elevations are controlled through a combination of louvres and low-e solar control glazing. There are two louvers per floor which vary in size. The sizes were developed through environmental shading models tested at different times of the day and the year. The lower louvre is wider to provide a greater degree of shading. For the SW elevation which receives the greatest amount of solar heat gain the amount of glazing is reduced and the solid shading wall with smaller openings wraps around the facade to provide a greater level of insulation and shading.

Internal Heat gain

The control of internal heat gains is important in minimizing air conditioning loads. This will primarily be done through the selection of efficient low energy lighting system which has a lower heat output as well as lower energy consumption.

Developer: Indochina Land
Add: Capital Place, Floors 9-10, 6 Thai Van Lung, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: 84.8.3910 4855 - Fax: 84.8.3910 4860
Email: info@indochinacapital.com - www.indochinacapital.com

Source: Real Architecture.

7 Revealing Questions To Ask When Checking References

Earlier in the year, the Harvard Business Review published some great questions that Gilt Groupe CEO Kevin Ryan asks when he is checking references.

Ryan serves on the board of Yale Corporation, Human Rights Watch, and INSEAD, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a M.B.A from INSEAD.

His main seven honest-feedback-extracting-questions (and follow-ups) are:

1. Would you hire this person again?  If so, why and in what capacity?  If not, why not?
2. How would you describe the candidate's ability to innovate, manage, lead, deal with ambiguity, get things done and influence others?
3. What were some of the best things this person accomplished?  What could he or she have done better?
4. In what type of culture, environment, and role can you see this person excelling?  In what type of role is he or she unlikely to be successful?
5. Would you describe the candidate as a leader, a strategist, an executor, a collaborator, a thinker, or something else?  Can you give me some examples to support your description?
6. Do people enjoy working with the candidate, and would former coworkers want to work with him or her again?
7. In what areas does the candidate need to improve?

Caring Criticism

Negative feedback is part of growing as a leader -- both delivering that feedback and sometimes receiving that type of feedback.

Keith Ferrazzi, CEO of Ferazzi Greenlight, a research-based consulting and training company, suggests practicing "caring criticism," as he recently explained it in the Harvard Business Review.

"Negative feedback can hurt, but usually it's a gift aimed at helping the recipient improve performance or avoid mistakes.  We should deliver and receive it that way," says Ferrazzi.

"Use phrases like 'I might suggest' and 'Think about this'" when giving feedback.

And, then Kerrazzi suggests when receiving candid feedback, that you thank the person who offered it and make clear the points on which you agree.  He's found that if you think of the person giving you honest feedback as generous, rather than critical, you become less defensive and more open to changing your behavior.

Realty investment fund hard to raise

VNRE - Although it is expected to have a positive impact on the property market, setting up a local property investment fund is a tough challenge for fund managers at the moment.

The recently-issued Government Decree 58 provides a legal framework for establishing domestic property investment funds, alongside foreign ones. David Henry, managing director of VinaLand, hoped the decree would create chances for investors to inject more capital into the real estate market, thus improving the market’s liquidity.

However, it is too soon to tell for sure whether local investment funds will be of help. Other factors such as interest rates, land rents and compensation costs should also be taken into account, said Henry.

“From our perspective, the property market will make more positive changes if more funds participate in and create liquidity for the poor-performing market,” he told the Daily.

He said it was now difficult to set up a realty investment fund in Vietnam as local property firms had been listed and domestic investment funds were performing poorly.

“Foreign investors may be considering Vietnam an attractive destination, if they see that the property market has hit or nearly touched its nadir and the market will bounce back in the middle or long term,” said Henry.

“To efficiently manage a property investment fund in Vietnam, we must focus on location, location and location,” he stressed.

One of the biggest challenges for fund managers is they already have large areas of land in hand, they will still have to ask authorities for land use rights and have huge finances to fund site clearance and compensation.

Another difficulty is homebuyers lack confidence in the housing investment environment. Moreover, lending rates are now too high, making life hard for investors and customers of housing projects and thus adversely affecting the market, said Henry.

Reported by Dinh Dung | The Saigon Times Daily

Saigon Gateway

VNRE - Saigon Gateway is an investigation into place-making in a tall building. One particular challenge of a high-rise building is that there is so much repetition, because of the necessities of construction and economics.

In Ho Chi Minh City, we’ve found most residents live within a cognitive map of the city. Directions are typically in the form of visual, tangible reference points: “turn left at the red building, go two blocks, turn right before you get to the supermarket.” The city in abstract, the city as town planners see it, is not a part of everyday life. You never see taxi drivers and xe om drivers with a map.

The Gateway design is taking one space in the building, which is not necessarily considered, the corridor, and trying to create a sense of place in a cognitive way, because we believe that's how most people in this context understand their environment.

In this 21-storey apartment building, the corridors are banded in three-floor sections. When the elevator door opens, there are differently scaled spaces, are different forms on the walls, different lighting, colors and materials.

What we've tried through a very banal piece of the building to create a cognitive sense of place, rather than a geometric one. It's no longer just the floor number, it’s a visual and spatial relationship between you and the place that you live in a tall building.

Investor: Azure City Ltd
Address: 10 Alexandre De Rhodes, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: 84.8.3932 0809 - Fax: 84.8.3932 1256.

Source: Real Architecture.

The Vista An Phu - Icon of Ultimate Living

VNRE - Are you looking for a house?
- Are you looking for an apartment to stay while you are working in Ho Chi Minh City?
- Are you looking for office space with excellent facilities?
We introduce to you an address to meet all your needs.



Contact developer:

CapitaLand-Vista Joint Venture Co. Ltd
Add: 19th Floor Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon - 39 Le Duan Street, District 1, HCMC
Tel: 84.8.3910 6688 - Fax: 84.8.3911 0293
Email: customer_service@capitalandvista.com.vn
Website: www.thevista.com.vn

Healing Art What if it Works? - by Rizwana A Mundewadi

absolutearts.com Portfolio

I do not promise miracles, just a ray of hope, for desperate souls..healing art is in no way a replacement for medical therapy but along with, as a support system it this will create miracles!

I am not a miracle maker or magician, just a simple pure soul, think pure, avoid negative energies and people and sell dreams! A dream seller, a seller of happiness to the whole world. Just a pure Reiki channel, an empty hollow tube wherein passes loads of pure energy spreading happiness and universal love.

Do not expect miracles from me, let the symbols work for themsleves, let the inner self, channelize the healing, let your spirit guides guide you. Welcome to visual healing! a means of communication, a conversation with self and symbols, and on the path of this spiritual journey healing yourself and others.

New horizons have to be reached, new dreams have to be fulfilled, achieving the ultimate bliss, a door towards enlightenment, a window to your soul. Resolve all past lives karmic issues, begin new dreams, the universe does not like empty spaces or void, fill it with your dreams, don't just exist, start living!

So I say what if it works? 

absolutearts.com Portfolio

JSM Penisula

VNRE - JSM Peninsula is twin 27 storey towers located on a bend in the river in District 2, HCMC. The building consists of 3 and 4 bedroom units based around a butterfly plan typology.

Investor: JSM Indochina Services Co., Ltd
Address: 10th Floor, Empire Tower, 26-28 Ham Nghi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: 84.8.3915 2125 - Fax: 84.8.3915 2126.

Source: Real Architecture.

Ha Tinh Commercial Center

VNRE - Location: No.16, Phan Dinh Phung Street, Ha Tinh City
- Scale: 13,000 m2, 8 stories.

Source: HD Group

Real Architecture Ltd

VNRE - REAL Architecture is a high-end boutique design firm providing an unparalleled level of internationally renowned design services. We offer a range of expertise including architectural, interior, landscape and graphic design. Our experience over the years tells us that a balance of global knowledge and local know-how offers our clients the right balance of creativity and execution within a competitive fee structure.  ’s design team is anchored by internationally qualified Architects who comprise over 30% of our staff. Our clients include multinational organisations, international and local developers, diplomatic missions and charities. Currently we are working on projects for JSM Indochina, Hong Kong Land, Indochina Land, Jen Capital, BTA, and Azure City.

Our key projects include Indochina Riverside Tower, Peninsula, Indochina Headquarters, River garden residences, and the Renaissance International School Saigon. In each of these projects our approach is to create unique solutions with an attention to detail that distinguishes our approach.

As well as working as lead architect we have extensive experience of collaborating with international architects providing local design expertise and knowledge. Over the past two years we have worked with Arata Isozaki(Japan), RTKL, (Shanghai), Gravity Partnership (Hong Kong), Eric Parry Architects (London), Ben Wood Studio (Shanghai) and Paysage et Lumiere(Paris). We are a fully licensed Vietnamese architectural practice, and a Chartered International Practice of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). We carry Projessional Indemnity Insurance of US$ 2,000,000

REAL is an acronym for things that effect how we think: Research, Environments, Art and Lifestyle. Architecture is what we do with it.

Contact detail:

REAL Architecture Company Limited
Ho Chi Minh City: 57D Tu Xuong, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: 84.8.3932 1470 - Fax: 84.8.3932 1471
Email: info@real-architecture.com - www.real-architecture.com

Cambodia: #25 Road, Archa Sva Road, Wat Bo Village, Salakamroeuk Commune, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tel: 855.63.760678 - Fax: 855.63.760677

Kyoto: 45 Kamiumenoki-cho, Shichiku, Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan.

Parkland II Residences

VNRE - Parkland II is the continuation of one of Vietnam’s first service apartment blocks located in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. The new development adds over 700 apartment units, a club facility, and extensive landscaping. A key feature of the design was to reduce the amount of overviewing created by the density of the blocks.

Investor: Jen Development Vietnam Limited
Address: 15th Floor Saigon Tower, 29 Le Duan Boulevard, District 1, HCMC
Tel: 84.8.3823 4000 - Fax: 84.8.3823 4018

Source: Real Architecture.