NAMO Modern Italian / NU Architecture & Design

Architects: NU Architecture & Design
Area: 160 m²
Year: 2024
Photography: Do Sy
Design Team: Nguyen Trung Thong, Tran Ngoc Bao Tran, Le Thi Thanh Truc
City: Ho Chi Minh
Country: Vietnam

NAMO Modern Italian by NU Architecture & Design redefines the dining experience within the vertical frame of a Saigon townhouse. Spanning 160 square meters, the restaurant merges Italian culinary culture with Vietnamese material craftsmanship, balancing warmth, precision, and intimacy. The design orchestrates a sensory journey through layers of texture, color, and light, from charred wood floors to ember-toned surfaces and a softly illuminated bar. NU Architecture & Design preserves the original pitched ceiling and enhances it with thermal insulation, achieving both energy efficiency and spatial clarity. Handmade terracotta tiles link the Italian hearth with local heritage, creating a dialogue that extends beyond aesthetics. The result is a cohesive architectural composition that transforms the act of dining into an exploration of culture, emotion, and craft.

Our design philosophy is deeply rooted in the essence of our studio’s name, NU, meaning “us” in Mauritian Creole—a tribute to my heritage. This represents our belief that design is a collaborative journey: when clients partner with us, they inherently become part of the creative process, driving and shaping the project’s vision together.
Interview with Jonathan Ng Cheong Tin of NU architecture & design

Namo modern italian / nu architecture & design

Perched above the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City, NAMO Modern Italian offers a moment of calm within the dense urban fabric. Designed by NU Architecture & Design, the restaurant occupies the upper level of a narrow townhouse, using verticality not as a limitation but as a narrative structure. Here, each gesture—spatial or material—builds upon the idea of warmth as both physical and emotional presence.

The design experience begins at the floor, where dark herringbone wood establishes a sense of grounding. The subtly scorched finish evokes the texture of charcoals, linking the interior atmosphere to the elemental process of cooking. This gesture becomes the project’s first emotional tone: charcoal, the foundation upon which everything else emerges.

From this base, the space unfolds upward through surfaces bathed in muted red tones. Columns, beams, and the pitched ceiling carry the hue of slow-burning embers, amplifying the room’s height while maintaining intimacy. This chromatic consistency unifies the interior, allowing material transitions to occur naturally and rhythmically across the vertical plane.

At the center of the space, the bar introduces a distinct visual rhythm. A backlit shelving system projects a soft red glow behind bottles, casting them as suspended sparks against dark surroundings. The marble countertop provides contrast and permanence, while its juxtaposition with wood and pigment builds a subtle interplay of density and lightness. The result is a focal point that is both tactile and ethereal.

Transitioning to the balcony, the atmosphere shifts from ember to illumination. Handmade terracotta tiles, rich in Vietnamese character, introduce a moment of quiet reflection and dialogue between Italian inspiration and local tradition. This threshold not only extends the palette outward but frames the city below, transforming the act of dining into a layered experience of place.

Technical considerations support the project’s aesthetic restraint. The original six-meter-high pitched ceiling is preserved and reshaped to enhance vertical continuity. A thermally insulated roof improves energy efficiency while maintaining the purity of form. These interventions reveal NU Architecture & Design’s commitment to sustainability as an integral, rather than decorative, element of design integrity.

Throughout NAMO, the conceptual thread of fire is distilled into three tones—charcoal, ember, and light—each corresponding to a phase of emotional and spatial engagement. This narrative progression animates the restaurant from foundation to ceiling, expressing transformation as both physical phenomenon and shared human experience.

NAMO Modern Italian stands as a quiet yet confident intersection of cultures, where Italian culinary artistry meets Vietnamese sensibility. NU Architecture & Design translates the rituals of cooking and gathering into architectural form, creating an environment that transcends its compact scale. The project embodies the firm’s ongoing pursuit of design that resonates with memory, emotion, and enduring relevance within the evolving identity of Saigon.