From Cultural Meaning to Architectural Form: Towards a Theory of Art–Architecture Integration in Southern Vietnam

Studies that document the interaction of culture, art and architecture around the worlddemonstrate that architecture is a reflection of cultural values. However, little consideration isgiven to the mechanisms through which cultural meaning is converted into artistic expressionand realized in architecture. This constraint is visible in research on Southern Vietnam, wherearchitectural history is mostly explored through stylistic development, culture integration orheritage conservation. The study, therefore, focuses on the historical development ofarchitectural art in Southern Vietnam from the late 17th to the early 21st century. The approachto typical architectural practices is done by a qualitative historical-interpretive methodologicalapproach through pivotal periods, which include the period of indigenous settlement, the colonialperiod, tropical modernism, wartime cultural production, post-war commemoration and thecontemporary urban transformation. The relationships between culture, art creation, architecture,memory and identity are identified through historical analysis, symbolic interpretation andcomparative synthesis. The findings show the emergence of a regional identity through adaptivecultural interpretation, the importance of collective memory as a repeating source of architecturalform, and the growth of the interaction between art and architecture from superficial adornmentto structural and spatial integration. The study, based on these findings, provides a theoreticalmodel of art-architecture integration, linking culture, art output, architectural realization andidentity construction. The research contributes to architectural theory by shaping art as adynamic cultural process and not just an additional aesthetic component and provides aframework for designing architecture that solves the needs of local identity in rapidly changingsocieties of Southern Vietnam and other regions.