Memory Hostel / Hinzstudio

Curated by Hana Abdel

Architects: Hinzstudio
Area: 294 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs:Ngo Duy
Manufacturers: Dai Loc, Jotun, KINGLED, Song Gianh, Tan Tien, Toto

“Connection” lies at the heart of the design for this hostel nested in Coastal Da Nang. It threads the connection between humans, between present and past and between cultures. Memory hostel rose from a worn cramped house. Hence, the conversion of such limited living space, never mind to a cozy and comfortable hostel 50 patrons in capacity, became the focal point of the conversation.

Memory Hostel / Hinzstudio - Interior Photography, Beam — © Ngo Duy

Memory Hostel / Hinzstudio - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade — © Ngo Duy

The answer championed is to leverage each spaces for appropriate functions, exploit the advantageous locale and expand the enclosed space into the outdoors, the last of which is accomplished by the delicately placement of mini-windows throughout to suit the bunk-bed theme of the Hostel. Threading through Memory hostel’s conception is the reminiscent of a Vietnam that was a part of French Cochin-china. The façade captures the gazes with its adornment of red bricks, whose design in its essence is the fruition of the local culture and craftsmanship.

Recycled and rough materials were favored in construction and furnishing to forge an ambiance primal yet youthful, unruly yet elegant and amicable, reflecting the patrons that will be under this roof. Simple construction methods and recycled furnishings together help slash the instruction fees. Further, these elements ornate the building as an exhibition space for the cultural heritage of the land.