Vietnamese architect comes up with easy-to-erect dwelling for poor

Ba VI, Vietnam

JUST below a hilltop pagoda, steel frames the size of two-car garages were popping up on a bluff that overlooked a valley of electric-green rice paddies.

They were prefabricated homes designed by Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia, and the construction team said it was impressed by the speed of its own handiwork: nearly one frame hoisted per hour, including smoke breaks, and largely without power tools.