Envisioning the next step of Vietnamese design after three decades of integration

Thinking and aesthetics are crystallised

Identity, in its broadest sense, is a shared memory encoded into objects, a bridge between past and present. In design, it may be expressed through craft techniques, folk patterns, or a worldview embodied in materials and forms. Vietnamese identity, rooted in culture and tradition, is a synthesis of aesthetics, thought, and lifestyle, shaped by thousands of years of living with land, water, weather, and community. It represents a distinctive anthropological character.

The traditional Vietnamese worldview is not merely a reflection of natural surroundings, but a philosophy of life that values practicality, resilience, and harmony with the environment and society. Traditionally, Vietnamese people favour rustic beauty and restrained ornamentation, valuing materials for their innate character. From this, an indigenous Vietnamese design language emerges—subtle yet profound, modest yet enduring. It can be found in every detail of life, from the humble bamboo chair and indigo-dyed fabrics to the layout of interior and exterior spaces in Northern homes.

In the context of globalisation, cultural identity and tradition become the “fingerprints” of Vietnamese design.
They offer designers more than just a path to creating distinctive products; they allow them to tell stories that are uniquely theirs. Traditional elements, when viewed through a contemporary lens, can become a means of expressing an individual cultural language enabling Vietnamese design to expand its reach globally, while staying true to its roots.

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The need to return to cultural values

In the world of modern design, where function, aesthetic appeal, and market trends often take centre stage, traditional cultural forms can sometimes be treated as an afterthought. They appear more as symbolic embellishments than integral to the design itself. Yet when we look at enduring design traditions, be it from Scandinavia, Japan, or emerging influences in Mexico and Morocco, a shared principle stands out: they are all deeply anchored in culture, shaped by layers of accumulated memory over time.

Vietnamese design is advancing at pace, but still contends with structural hurdles. One pressing issue is the lack of a clearly defined identity. Rather than being treated as a foundational value system, identity is often reduced to surface-level representation, employing traditional motifs or materials without genuine philosophical grounding. This points to a gap in design thinking that connects cultural understanding, material studies, and user behaviour within today’s context. While many young designers show strong potential, they still face limitations in accessing deep, practice-based learning environments or networks that bridge artisans, designers, and investors.

One of the clearest points of convergence between identity and contemporary design lies in interiors: spaces that act as cultural microcosms, reflecting how a society interprets and expresses itself. As Vietnamese households grow in affluence and take greater interest in the quality of their living environments, there is a growing appetite for design that offers a richer cultural and aesthetic experience. Yet, contemporary interiors that truly evoke the texture of materials, the depth of culture, and the spirit of national identity in an authentic and vibrant way remain few and far between.

In this context, the question extends beyond how to “create beauty”. The more vital challenge lies in making interior design a form of dialogue between people and space, tradition and modernity. Here, identity is no longer merely a decorative layer, but the very essence that informs every design decision from the selection of materials to lighting composition and detailing. Interior spaces have the power to reveal the enduring presence of tradition not as a nostalgic echo, but as something alive and active within contemporary life.

How to integrate cultural and traditional values into contemporary design?

As Vietnamese brands begin to take their place on the global stage, cultural identity becomes both an anchor and a compass. It helps define uniqueness, while offering a deep reserve of meaningful material to explore. In this journey, designers take on the role of cultural interpreters, selecting, adapting, and transforming tradition into broader, more resonant forms. As Sasaki (2019) noted: “Cultural identity in design is not merely a decorative layer, but a narrative device, embedding collective memory and value systems into material and form.” In essence, cultural identity is not a pattern to embellish with, but a structure of symbols and a way of telling a story through shape, material, and context.

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In Vietnam, we are witnessing many such creative approaches.

Notably, within the realm of Vietnamese interior design in recent years, numerous compelling efforts have emerged to weave cultural storytelling into living spaces. From applying folk motifs in architectural interiors, restructuring bamboo, rattan, and silk with a modern sensibility, to incorporating traditional techniques such as lacquerwork, ceramics, and hand-weaving into interior product design. These combinations not only elevate traditional craftsmanship and materials, but also revive layers of cultural memory. They become “open structures”, capable of interacting and evolving with users in contemporary settings.

A clear example lies in the work of Viet Furniture, whose research and development focuses on interior design for resorts, hotels, and the hospitality sector. These projects are ideally suited to integrating cultural values, as travellers, particularly those from abroad, actively seek out authentic and richly local experiences. Short-term accommodation also offers fertile ground for experimental design, making it an effective medium through which Vietnamese culture can be introduced and shared via a contemporary design lens. This direction holds not only market appeal, but strategic depth, turning interior design into a conduit connecting craftspeople, artisans, and cultural participants.

However, for this integration to genuinely serve as a source of creativity, rather than resting on symbolic gestures or surface-level inspiration, a sustainable design ecosystem is essential. At its core must be an enduring and in-depth dialogue between designers—those who reconfigure form, function and experience—and artisans, who carry the spirit, technical mastery, and delicacy of handcrafted materials.

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The integration of cultural values into modern Vietnamese design brings with it significant conceptual, technical and structural challenges. One of the key hurdles is a stereotyped or superficial approach. The absence of thorough research into indigenous culture has led many design outputs to fall into repetitive replication, lacking nuance and distinctive identity. Meanwhile, the use of traditional materials such as bamboo, lacquer, ceramics or do paper, despite their cultural richness, faces technical limitations: difficulties in standardisation, concerns over durability in line with industrial benchmarks, and a dwindling pool of skilled artisans. More critically, the disconnect between three essential forces—craftspeople, designers, and the market—has prevented this cultural wealth from becoming viable creative capital or economic value.

Yet within these obstacles lie rare opportunities. On the global stage, there is a growing appetite for products infused with authenticity where culture is not simply a decorative highlight but becomes the very heart of the experience. As tourism and experiential services expand, Vietnam’s interior design landscape must respond with spaces imbued with cultural identity, capable of telling stories through materials, forms, and artisanal details. At the same time, the rise of digital technology, digitisation, and creative AI offers new potential to record, archive, and reimagine traditional elements, creating bridges between legacy and the spirit of the present day.

Returning to traditional culture in contemporary design is not a passing trend, it is a sustained journey. One that calls for empathy, thoughtful research, and a delicate navigation between heritage and innovation. In a world seeking depth and authenticity, cultural identity gives rise to a meaningful and enduring design language. To incorporate cultural memory into design is to reshape identity itself, offering a new face to Vietnam’s creative future. Equally, the language of contemporary design becomes a tool to retell the story of national culture in the here and now. As Paul Ricoeur once wrote, “identity is not about returning to origins, but about the creative refiguration of inherited narratives” (Ricoeur, 1984). It is not about preserving things exactly as they were, but about reinterpreting enduring undercurrents in imaginative ways.

Article published from the original article in Tatler Vietnam, May 2025 issue

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