Ngo Viet Thu

Ngô Viết Thụ (1926–2000)^[1] was a Vietnamese architect; he designed the Independence Palace (also known as the Presidential Palace, 1961–1966, later renamed Reunification Palace ^[2][3] ,^[4] April 30, 1975) in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Ngô Viết Thụ was born on September 17, 1927, in Thừa Thiên, Vietnam. He married Vo Thi Co and had eight children. One of his children, Dr. Ngô Viết Nam Sơn, is also an architect and planner graduated from U.C. Berkeley and U. Washington, currently working in the United States and in Vietnam.^[5]

He studied architecture at the École Superieur d'Architecture in Đà Lạt, before transferring to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He graduated and then won the First Grand Prize of Rome (Grand Prix de Rome) in 1955, the highest recognition of the Beaux-Arts school in Paris, and was then sponsored by the Academy of France to conduct research of architecture and urban planning at the Villa Medicis (Rome) from 1955 to 1958.

In 1962, he was the first Asian architect to become an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (together with J.H. Van den Broek, Arne Jacobsen, Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Hector Mestre, Amancio Williams, Hernan Larrain-Errazuriz, Emilio Duhart H., Jerzy Hryniewiecki, and John B. Parkin).

He also designed Huế University Campus(1961–1963), Atomic Research Center in Đà Lạt (1962–1965), Thủ Đức University Campus (1962), Hương Giang 1 Hotel in Huế (1962), Phủ Cam Cathedral (1963), the Vietnam Airlines Headquarters (1972), the Agriculture University in Thủ Đức (1975), Sông Bé Hospital (1985), Century Hotel in Huế (1990).

He had associated with international architects in the design of University of Medicine of Saigon (Chief of Vietnamese Team, associating with CRS from Houston), International Art Center in Paris (collaborating with architects Paul Tournon and Oliver Clément Cacoub)

Besides being perhaps the best-known contemporary Vietnamese architect until today, he was also an innovative painter. Two of his most famous paintings were "National Landscape" (displayed at the main dining room of the Reunification Palace) and "Speed" (private collection).

Notes

1. ^ Ngo Viet Thu Career and works of architect Ngo Viet Thu (Dr Nam-Son Ngo-Viet) [PDF]
2. ^ The Palace of Independence, designed by Architect Ngo Viet Thu, Official Web Site of Vietnamese Government.
3. ^ Reunification Palace: Ho Chi Minh City’s Must-See by Gia Bao, SGGP Newspaper, Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008.
4. ^ The Reunification Palace, Official Website of Ho Chi Minh City's Government
5. ^ Special Coverage of Ngo Viet Thu's Palace of Independence by Mitchell Owens, “STYLE: Madame Nhu Almost Slept Here”, The New York Times, Jan 12, 2003. Accessed 2 Nov 2007.

Persondata
Name	Ngo, Thu Viet
Alternative names
Short description	Vietnamese architect
Date of birth	1926
Place of birth
Date of death	2000
Place of death