Vietnamese and foreign experts last week gathered in HCM City to discuss sustainable architecture and building design that will help the country take advantage of alternative energies and better cope with climate change.
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi told the two-day conference last Thursday that a clear roadmap was needed to adopt sustainable architecture and construction amid the process of urbanisation.
Angela Brady, president of the Royal Institute of British Architecture, told Viet Nam News that the way forward for the country was to look back and learn from the past and build for the way its people live now based on its own technologies, lifestyles and what it wanted instead of copying from other countries.
Viet Nam should approach sustainable architecture based on its national identity since it had a long cultural and historical heritage, she said.
Sustainable architecture would help Viet Nam save energy by using renewable energies, she added.
The conference was hosted by the British Council Viet Nam and the UK Trade and Investment Department.
The function, part of the Creativity Economy project begun by the British Council in 2008, is aimed at sharing the UK’s knowledge and experience of sustainable architecture.
Speakers at the conference include leading experts from the UK, Viet Nam – including from the ministries of Planning and Investment and Natural Resources and Environment – and elsewhere.
Topics on the agenda include Developing Sustainable International Best Practices, Sustainable Urban Development Project in Viet Nam, Sustainability Challenges Facing Viet Nam, and Building Lifecycle Management.
