Mel Schenck
@layered.bsky.social
Author of the book "Southern Vietnamese Modernist Architecture", American architect, immigrant and permanent resident of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
We need to design a better way forward into the future based upon desired intentions. Systemic design scholar and author Harold G. Nelson asks us to join together to proactively change towards a better future:
www.linkedin.com/posts/harold...?
www.linkedin.com/posts/harold...?
What opportunities can we design for our work?
Talking with colleagues, academics, professionals, students and others I find that many of us share a feeling of being stuck in reactive modes that are…...
What opportunities can we design for our work?
Talking with colleagues, academics, professionals, students and others I find that many of us share a feeling of being stuck in reactive modes that are ...
www.linkedin.com
September 4, 2025 at 4:15 AM
We need to design a better way forward into the future based upon desired intentions. Systemic design scholar and author Harold G. Nelson asks us to join together to proactively change towards a better future:
www.linkedin.com/posts/harold...?
www.linkedin.com/posts/harold...?
Reposted by Mel Schenck
What Free Iced Tea Says About Ho Chi Minh City
vietcetera.com/en/what-free...
vietcetera.com/en/what-free...
What Free Iced Tea Says About Ho Chi Minh City
Beneath the city’ fast pace lies a quiet gesture of care: free iced tea for anyone who needs it. A small act, a big heart, and a story that might just warm your
vietcetera.com
August 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
What Free Iced Tea Says About Ho Chi Minh City
vietcetera.com/en/what-free...
vietcetera.com/en/what-free...
Just published:
"American Sky: A Novel" by James Grady
About my hometown in Montana by my hometown friend Jim Grady
"American Sky: A Novel" by James Grady
About my hometown in Montana by my hometown friend Jim Grady
July 1, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Just published:
"American Sky: A Novel" by James Grady
About my hometown in Montana by my hometown friend Jim Grady
"American Sky: A Novel" by James Grady
About my hometown in Montana by my hometown friend Jim Grady
I about fell off my chair when I heard David Brooks say this on PBS News Hour Friday night:
May 31, 2025 at 3:45 AM
I about fell off my chair when I heard David Brooks say this on PBS News Hour Friday night:
In this otherwise excellent article by Damien Cave, he describes the 60-year-old Pittman Bldg in HCMC as unadmired by architects. I and my VN architect friends disagree. The bldg needs a renovation to display its modernist origins. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/w...
The Americans Fled Vietnam 50 Years Ago. I Visited the Buildings They Left Behind. (Gift Article)
These structures, now surrounded by a modern metropolis, tell the story of the nation that has evolved in the decades since the war’s end.
www.nytimes.com
April 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM
In this otherwise excellent article by Damien Cave, he describes the 60-year-old Pittman Bldg in HCMC as unadmired by architects. I and my VN architect friends disagree. The bldg needs a renovation to display its modernist origins. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/w...
Reposted by Mel Schenck
Fellow “Bible Christians,” you voted for it: Prez T’ump has declared that if you’re a family who came on foot with no money, GO BACK! If you’re a “rich man” (Mat 19:24) with your own big plane, here’s your GOLD ENTRY TICKET—skip the lines and com’on in, but be sure to stop in Palm Beach first.
February 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Fellow “Bible Christians,” you voted for it: Prez T’ump has declared that if you’re a family who came on foot with no money, GO BACK! If you’re a “rich man” (Mat 19:24) with your own big plane, here’s your GOLD ENTRY TICKET—skip the lines and com’on in, but be sure to stop in Palm Beach first.
This is a week that will live in infamy in the history of the decline of the once exceptional United States of America. Our parents and families made America exceptional by eliminating the scourge of fascism in WWII. And now the Trump regime has betrayed us to the powers of fascism.
February 20, 2025 at 2:52 AM
This is a week that will live in infamy in the history of the decline of the once exceptional United States of America. Our parents and families made America exceptional by eliminating the scourge of fascism in WWII. And now the Trump regime has betrayed us to the powers of fascism.
Reposted by Mel Schenck
An early AI experiment from 2022 training a GAN with my cityscapes of Saigon and then painting digitally over it... given todays air quality it feels appropriate..
January 19, 2025 at 9:37 AM
An early AI experiment from 2022 training a GAN with my cityscapes of Saigon and then painting digitally over it... given todays air quality it feels appropriate..
Reposted by Mel Schenck
Saigoneer recently republished this old photo essay of mine.. check it out saigoneer.com/saigon-news/...
#saigon #hcmc #streetphotography
#saigon #hcmc #streetphotography
Life in Saigon's Old Tenements, the Remaining Vertical Villages of Past Decades | Saigoneer
Is “out with the old, in with the new” the new motto when it comes to Saigon's real estate scene?
...
saigoneer.com
January 10, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Saigoneer recently republished this old photo essay of mine.. check it out saigoneer.com/saigon-news/...
#saigon #hcmc #streetphotography
#saigon #hcmc #streetphotography
2024 was an interesting year, in Vietnam and internationally. In my inner-city neighborhood of Ho Chi Minh City, there were eight houses in the photograph constructed during this past year, and one is still under construction. House construction continues in the face of the the property recession.
December 29, 2024 at 10:52 AM
2024 was an interesting year, in Vietnam and internationally. In my inner-city neighborhood of Ho Chi Minh City, there were eight houses in the photograph constructed during this past year, and one is still under construction. House construction continues in the face of the the property recession.
My journal article comparing Vietnamese mid-century modernist architecture with global-south decolonized architecture has been published in "Tạp chí Kiến trúc". Find links to both Vietnamese and English language versions at Architecture Vietnam blog: blog.architecturevietnam.com/2024/12/an-a...
An article comparing Vietnamese modernist architecture with other decolonized countries
I was commissioned by the Vietnamese Architects Association to write a scholarly article for their magazine, Tạp chí Kiến trúc, số 8-2024. I chose to write a comparison of Vietnamese modernist archite...
blog.architecturevietnam.com
December 15, 2024 at 4:16 AM
My journal article comparing Vietnamese mid-century modernist architecture with global-south decolonized architecture has been published in "Tạp chí Kiến trúc". Find links to both Vietnamese and English language versions at Architecture Vietnam blog: blog.architecturevietnam.com/2024/12/an-a...