Sketching Heritage at Tan Hiep Prison

The Architecture of Control and Memory

More than a site of resistance, Tan Hiep Prison embodies the architecture of control and suppression during wartime. Designed with seven detention blocks, nine bunkers, three watchtowers, and four layers of barbed wire, it was once called a “miniature Con Dao” in the heart of Bien Hoa.
Each 200m² block confined hundreds of revolutionaries under harsh conditions. The armed watchtowers and dense barbed-wire system reveal how architecture itself became a tool of domination.

On May 31, 2025, I visited Tan Hiep Prison in Bien Hoa — a historical site once known as a “miniature Con Dao.” Built with seven detention blocks, nine bunkers, and three watchtowers, the complex embodies an architecture of control, silence, and memory. I came there not only to sketch, but to understand how space can shape human experience.

While sketching under the afternoon light, I observed the rigid geometry of walls, the rhythm of fences, and the watchtower’s commanding height. Each line I drew carried the weight of confinement, revealing how architecture once functioned as a mechanism of power. Through sketching, I learned to read beyond physical forms — to sense emotion, tension, and resilience embedded in space.

This experience strengthened my skills in spatial analysis, perspective drawing, and emotional interpretation of form. More importantly, it taught me that architecture holds the power to either liberate or suppress. As a future architect, I aim to design spaces that promote freedom, empathy, and human dignity — transforming lessons from the past into visions for a more compassionate future.