These people have adapted to the harsh environment in remarkable ways. Their architecture is designed to "breathe" with the wind, featuring intricately carved vents that regulate temperature and reduce wind pressure on the structures. They are renowned for their weaving, specifically a fabric
During the 1920s, Ngoalong Lau became a lightning rod for controversy. Vietnamese nationalists, led by figures like Phan Bội Châu, accused him of "aesthetic collaboration." They argued that by beautifying French materials with Vietnamese motifs, Lau was legitimizing colonialism. A famous editorial in the Đông Dương tạp chí called him "the man who gilded his own cage." Ngoalong Lau
Born in 1887 in the French protectorate of Annam (present-day central Vietnam), Ngoalong Lau was the son of a Confucian scholar and a French colonial clerk. This unique parentage placed him at the very edge of two civilizations. His father, Ngoalong Phuc, was a mandarin who refused to shave his topknot, while his mother, Élise Deveraux, was a librarian from Lyon who had brought a small library of Descartes, Voltaire, and Diderot to the humid banks of the Perfume River. These people have adapted to the harsh environment
: Inside the former French High School (now Trần Phú High School), this spiral staircase uses the Hybrid Frame. The iron railing turns into a wooden banister midway, without a single bolt. Ask the principal for permission; they are accustomed to Lau pilgrims. Vietnamese nationalists, led by figures like Phan Bội
: The 2023 novel The Iron Lotus by Vietnamese-French author Kim Thúy features a protagonist clearly based on Ngoalong Lau. The book became a bestseller, introducing the name to a new generation.