Finding Balance in the Contrary: Vy Voi's Latest Collection Merges Vietnamese Heritage with Modern Design
Art & Design
In a fusion of traditional Vietnamese craftsmanship and contemporary design, New York and Sài Gòn-based studio Vy Voi unveils Rễ Cây, a lighting collection that explores the delicate balance between weightlessness and groundedness.
The collection, whose name translates to "root" in Vietnamese, made its debut at wanted/ICFF during NYCxDESIGN in May 2024.
At the heart of this collection lies an 800-year-old Vietnamese craft: Dó paper. Made from the bark of the Dó tree in Bắc Ninh, this historic material - once reserved for royal documents and folk art - now finds new life in contemporary lighting design. The paper's durability and unique texture, achieved through a meticulous hand-crafting process, creates lampshades that appear almost fabric-like, each telling its own story through visible bits of tree bark embedded within.
The five-piece collection—comprising the Sắn, Cà-rốt, Củ Cải, Khoai Môn, and Củ Đậu lights—explores the interplay of proportion and material contrast. Through these contrasting elements, each piece achieves a delicate balance between weightlessness and groundedness, creating a sense of contained comfort. Each piece features a hand-thrown porcelain base that anchors it firmly, crowned with an ethereal Dó paper shade that appears to float weightlessly above. Viewed from a distance, the lampshades seem to grow organically from their bases—like roots sprouting from the ground, true to their namesake. Up close, a visual synthesis of soft shapes and organic textures emerge.
