Simon Richards, My research and work evolves around Urban Spaces where Typography and Placemaking co-exist together. Investigating the local areas' Urban Accents through #place #time #space and creating a visual answer from those observations.

Dr Andy Stiff, his design practice investigates the process of collecting, archiving and re-presenting unique urban spaces.
‘Moving Experiences: Video Observations of Ho Chi Minh City’.

Thierry Bernard-Gotteland is a multi-media artist in the greatest sense of the word, he mixes everyday noise from busy streets and construction sites with traditional media in his installations.

Collaborated projects exhibitions -
SIGN OF THE TIMES - FEB 2019 HCMC
HIDDEN CITIES - NOV 2019 HANOI
CITY EDGE - 2020 HCMC

An archive of fictional urban adventures served as the starting point for my research. Through a process of documenting the Vietnamese urban centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City I began to identify significant characteristics that demonstrate how the typography and signage respond to the identities of each city.
Once settled into a collaboration with my colleagues, we focused on the HEMS in district four back in 2018, where by my fascination for the placemaking, space and time one has to read, see and identify location. Weekly observations were met with locals becoming more and more friendly with our visits, and becoming more welcoming.

I was based at RMIT University Vietnam, over the past 5-6 years, apart from my role as a Design Studies, Associate lecturer, my other role was in Design research. I was awarded a few grants and I started the first Typography Archive (at RMIT). That showcases signages and Urban Facades from Hanoi to Saigon and documents how the cities are evolving and changing rapidly, through mapping and recorded interviews of artisans.

The local Artists/Sign makers that i was focused on to request an interview or observe their work was becoming harder to find as most had passed away or simply didn't want to be found.
Once i found a very famed artist we commissioned him for one of our exhibitions, and he was very forthcoming with ideas and poetry.

Significance of a Sign (in a Hem) is a part of a chapter in the research area of (URBAN SIGNATURES). As the HEMS are a very special part of the cities of Ho Chi Min and Hanoi they have many names for alley in Vietnamese. From these findings and observations, i have now moved from vietnam and am based in japan, where im carrying on this work but focused on the OLDER areas of greater Tokyo from urban to countryside with the same observations and curious nous to discover the #space #time #place aspects of the urban cities i identify.

Cine-Concert: Hem City by Thierry Bernard-Gotteland and Andrew Stiff
https://www.salonsaigon.com/events/cine-concert-hem-city-by-thierry-bernard-gotteland-and-andrew-stiff/?event_date=2019-04-23

'Moving Experiences: Video observations of Ho Chi Minh City'https://vimeo.com/483917234

HEM 42
https://vimeo.com/364039772?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=1405580