INFO
| Name | Binh Minh Ha (she/her) |
| Born | 1996 |
| Country of Birth | Vietnam |
| Place of Residence | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
| Ethnicities | Vietnamese |
| Artform | Architecture, Makeup, Literature |
| Decades Active | 2020s |
ABOUT
Binh Minh Ha is an architectural designer, makeup artist and the founding editor of bypass, an independent architecture publishing platform based in Aotearoa. Born in Hue, Vietnam, Ha moved to Aotearoa as a child in 2007, and she and her family settled in Pakuranga. Her wide-ranging interests can be traced back to her high school years at Epsom Girls Grammar, where she developed a strong curiosity for science. Ha initially completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Auckland before undertaking a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, graduating in 2021.
It was while she was still studying that Ha began working at the makeup retailer MECCA, and in 2018, she began to carve out a reputation as a makeup artist, working with emerging independent fashion designers such as Emma Jing and Taylor Groves as they presented their breakout collections. In the years since, Ha has continued to collaborate with an expanding group of local designers and creatives — including Wilbur Hsu, Jing Hé, Frances Lowe (Loclaire), and the photographer Ken Xun Cao. Her work spans campaigns, lookbooks, shows, and music videos.
As an architectural designer, Ha briefly worked at llewellyn Architecture after graduating in 2021, before joining Knight Associates — the Tāmaki Makaurau-based design studio founded by Rufus Knight — in 2023. At Knight Associates, Ha contributes to a wide range of private residential projects as well as art, hospitality and retail projects, such as Kowtow’s first Naarm store, completed in 2023.
Ha’s architectural practice also extends beyond the studio. In 2022 she was part of a collective with fellow young designers (Jack Wu, Oliver Ray-Chaudhuri, Calvin Feng, Dian Wang, and William Chen) who presented The Chairs in the Room, as part of the mini-festival Art in the City. The collective created 25 unique chairs from simple materials — framing timber and decking oil — which were spread across the city, before coming together again at the Urban Art Village pop-up on Upper Vulcan Lane. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective made use of materials at hand and the collective described the chairs as:
A family of 25, bonded by their roots in a process of change and improvisation with limited means. These are ‘almost’ chairs; transfigured from their raw and processed timber beginnings, not quite civilized; not quite furniture. Once hosting conversations and inspiring imagination, the family reunites to share stories of separate journeys. They are the empty seats at the table, quiet beside the elephant; no more than arranged material artifacts, waiting again to be reborn.
Ha is also one of the founding editors of bypass, an online architectural journal that publishes critical writing and commentary from the local architecture community. In starting bypass the editors wanted to stir up conversation about wider architectural practice: “Our intent is to suggest alternative modes of thought about the practice, discipline, and agency of architecture. The journal presents a collective take on what really matters to us today.” In their first year, they also launched the bypass podcast, which brings together a variety of voices from the architecture community for each episode. Reflecting at the end of their inaugural year, the editors of bypass celebrated the risk-taking and freedom their independent platform afforded them while acknowledging the challenges of grassroots publishing:
Such is the luxury, as budding architects still rich in energy, that allows us to take gambles and risks. We’re privileged in being unbounded by clientele and expectations, empowered by academia’s sense of agency to speculate, dream big, and voice our truths.
LINKS
Key works / presentations
2024 — Louisa Nicklin, 'Can't See' music video (makeup)
2024 — Marlin's Dreaming, 'Lucky Star' music video (hair and makeup)
2024 — Louisa Nicklin, 'Thick' music video (makeup)
2024 — Shannen Young campaign (hair & makeup)
2023 — Jing Hé, HÉ-AVEN 024 campaign (hair and makeup)
2023 — Taylor Groves capsule collection (hair and makeup)
2023 — Wilbur Hsu campaign (hair and makeup)
2022 — The Chairs in the Room, presented at Urban Art Village, Freyberg Place, Thursday 13 October 2022, and Studio One Toi Tū, December 2022
2022 — Cao Xun editorial (makeup)
2022 — Jing Hé campaign (hair and makeup)
2022 — Muroki, ‘Find Me’ music video (makeup)
2022 — Emma Jing x Taylor Groves: Gemini Season (hair and makeup)
Key awards
2025 — New Zealand Institute of Architects Auckland Architecture Awards: shortlist, Alterations and Additions (Water View House; llewellyn Architecture)
2024 — Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards: Gold Pin, Retail Environments (Kowtow Naarm; with Knight Associates)
