An atlas of Vietnamese plant based furniture  
A research project conducted by Marie Douel Studio

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An atlas of Vietnamese plant based furniture is part of a broader ongoing exploration of Vietnam through its materials, objects, crafts and cultural practices. Starting from a curiosity about the ways in which local knowledge is embedded in everyday objects and places, our research investigates how these references might open new perspectives for contextual and low-impact exhibition design, while questioning how museums and exhibition practices can engage with local cultures beyond predominantly Western models.

Materials, crafts & objects

The research focuses on the materials, objects and craft practices that shape Vietnamese material culture, looking at how they are made, used, valued and transmitted within their cultural and territorial contexts.
Particular attention is given to materials rooted in the Vietnamese landscape and in long-standing craft practices: bamboo, rattan, sedge, lacquer and timber. Their production and transformation provide insight into local resources, techniques and knowledge, while objects, from furniture and household items to ancestral altars, woven elements and ceremonial pieces, reveal how material culture is embedded in everyday social and ritual practices. Their evolution between vernacular traditions and contemporary production also became part of the investigation.

The museum: decolonisation, context and community

Alongside material culture, the research examines the museum as a space where different cultural systems meet. Vietnam's colonial and postcolonial history raises questions about the influence of Western museological models and their relationship with local forms of display and spatial occupation.

This perspective extends to the relationship between museums, territories and communities: the role of local materials and knowledge in museum architecture and interiors, the adaptation of conservation practices to Vietnam's climatic conditions, and the ways cultural objects are collected, interpreted and presented. Questions of restitution and the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin form part of this broader reflection.

The research also looks beyond the museum, where objects and cultural knowledge are displayed and transmitted through domestic and sacred spaces, public spaces, festivals and rituals. These practices question the role of the museum as the primary framework for cultural transmission, and open up possibilities for exhibition models that engage more closely with local communities.

An atlas as a research tool

These questions connect directly to the studio's approach to scenography and eco-design. Common and readily available materials can be reinterpreted or diverted from their conventional uses to create low-impact, reusable spatial devices. In the Vietnamese context, we ask how local materials, objects and craft knowledge might inform this approach without reducing them to aesthetic references.
Existing forms of making can become scenographic resources: materials can be transformed into structures, surfaces, screens or furniture, while familiar objects can acquire new spatial functions while retaining their embedded knowledge and associations.

As a first physical outcome, a foldable map has been developed as a tool for further investigation.
It brings together the objects identified through the research, organised according to their materials, contexts of use and potential scenographic applications. 
Conceived as an evolving research tool rather than a finished catalogue, the map will travel to Vietnam and be used directly in the field, annotated and enriched through further observations and encounters. It will connect the initial research with practices encountered on site and provide a framework for confronting initial hypotheses with local practices and conversations with craftspeople, designers, architects, researchers and museum professionals.

Bibliographie

^{Publications on material culture:}

• ^{Quang Vinh Nguyen, Émilie  Laystary (eds.) (2025) Vietnamese Objects: The Material Culture of Resilience in the Face of (De)colonization, Triest Verlag}

• ^{Sylvie Fanchette, Nicholas Stedman (2010) Discovering Craft Villages in Vietnam: Ten Itineraries Around Hà Nội, IRD Éditions / Éditions Thế Giới}

• ^{Đinh Trọng Hiếu, Emmanuel Poisson,  (2024) Bamboo in Vietnam. An Anthropological and Historical Approach. Routledge}

• ^{Journal of Vietnamese Studies, University of California Press}

• ^{Vietnam Tales}

• ^Saigoneer

• ^Vietcetera

^{Other Articles :}

• ^{Vinh Phu Pham, The Double-Edged Allure of Indochic in Postcolonial Vietnam}

• ^{Phạm Vinh, How Vietnamese Architecture Adopted Modernism and Made It Our Own}

• ^{Phạm Vinh, The Aesthetic Yet Functional Role of Shade in the Genome of Modernist Architecture Friday}

• ^{Montaine Dumont, The revival of Vietnamese lacquer in the 20th century}

• ^{Tam My, A Brief History Of The Vietnamese Plastic Stool}