On the morning of 23.11, ELLE Decoration Vietnam and VFCD hosted a talk titled “Creative Space for Creative Minds” with two guest speakers – Dr Trần Văn Thành and artist Huyền Dan – as well as audiences interested in the topic.
Inspired by solutions for post-pandemic modern office space, the talk offered ways to foster good interaction, effective use of space, aesthetic elements, and effective, profound connections in the workspace for creatives This is a project conducted by ELLE during surveys at multiple creative studios and an event series of Pop-up Office with 16 unique activities in just one month.
The talk opened with images of Workspace 3.0 from Milan Design Week compiled by ELLE, which showed the prominent trends in office interior design: great flexibility, exploration of materials, sustainability elements, and features to create the most comfort for office workers.
Architect Dr Trần Văn Thành, Co-founder and Design Director of ASA Lighting, shared his experience designing the company’s office – which he called an “incubator” of ideas. Located in a villa in the centre of District 3, ASA’s office is a place that promotes simplicity but has a soul and is as cosy as a home, ensuring connections with the space and surrounding nature. At the same time, the office has a space for the staff to experiment with lighting, decorated with a system of edgy, modern, colour-changing “in-house” lights. Outside of working hours, the office is also a place to drink, eat, exchange, and welcome guests.
For artist-architect Huyền Đan, Founder of INDIgofarm – INDIgohome, a space is where creative work is sheltered and nurtured. His 10-year-old dream has now come true: a module on the mountain that withstands all turbulences, built on four basic concepts: “permaculture” (a combination of permanent and agriculture), a re-energising “garden”, education and poetry artspace. Although his presentation did not include illustrations, Huyền Đan’s ideas were conveyed vividly through descriptive language, which brought inspiration to the audience.
One story was about the space for technology and personalities, while the other leaned towards meditation and a slow pace of life – they had shown how spaces for creative minds could transform accordingly to different industries.
The two guest speakers were also the activity coordinators at this year’s Pop-up Office events by ELLE. On Pop-up Office, Dr Trần Văn Thành and artist Huyền Đan agreed that this is a “midsummer night’s dream” as it seemed like a banquet, an endless carnival that brought tremendous interesting experiences, connections and interactions among all. With a rapid, evolving schedule, all events took place as a matter of course, with the interior arrangements changing flexibly day by day, and the Pop-up Office had shown the elusive beauty of creativity and celebrated surprises beyond expectations.
The talk ended with a Q&A session with the audience on the specific methods and approaches to multi-functional, flexible, comfortable spaces that ensure human interactions. A space that only looks good will forever remain on the catalogue, or as a model house, and therefore human interactions are what’s important./
