This building is located next to the river Thu Bon, in the Dien Ban district of Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province. Named Terra Cotta Studio, it was built as a workshop for the eminent local artist Le Duc Ha, and presents itself as a box measuring 7 cubic meters. The construction has three layers. The first is a ring outside the building, thought of as an open-air place with two large benches for taking a break and sipping tea, and presenting a bamboo frame scaffold used for drying terra cotta products. The second is a lattice of solid clay bricks, formed by a structural grid and more permeable stretches between the grid’s pillars and lintels. Evoking traditional furnaces and the traditional architecture of Vietnam, this lattice protects the third layer: a timber structure with a perimetral staircase that doubles as a showcase for the artist’s creations. Shaded by the lattice but open to ventilation, the interior space of the atelier is like a prolongation of the exterior...
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