Toong Phan Bội Châu
“The Mutant” – A 15-Meter Provocation in the Modern Workspace
Rising 15 meters tall beneath the skylight at Toong Phan Boi Chau, a striking figure shatters every norm of traditional office design. The Mutant stands not behind glass in a museum, nor flickering across a movie screen—but boldly among us, embedded in the rhythm of daily life. Its towering presence poses a quiet provocation: what happens when the extraordinary refuses to stay in its frame?
Culture Without Borders
Following international exhibitions in Malaysia and Japan, The Mutant has returned to Hanoi - not as a guest, but as a part of the very architecture and energy of Toong Phan Boi Chau.
This installation is part of the series From "Peculiar" to Roses, a sculptural exploration by artist Do Ha Hoai. Alongside other works such as The itchy guy, The Concrete-mutants, and The leader of the ship, The Mutant challenges conventional notions of art, drawing from physiological and emotional responses to modern life. The sculpture comprises 50 smaller figures inspired by bodily allergies, serving as metaphors for how our minds and bodies react to the pressures of society and environment.
When the Strange Becomes a Source of Inspiration
“It all began with a simple allergic reaction to a loaf of bread,” says Hoai. “From there, I began to reflect on the many ways people react to the world around them.”
What started with a physical sensitivity soon expanded into a meditation on mental and emotional responses - our inner "allergies" to the city, to expectations, to modern life. In sculptural form, The Mutant takes on an ambiguous physicality: feet sunken in the depths like underwater roots, hands gripping the ground floor, head drifting amidst the clouds. The form resists any one dimension. Over time, its surface will shift in color, reacting to Hanoi’s unique blend of light, air, and humidity like a living organism.
At Toong, The Mutant becomes a symbol of creative tension. It represents the brave discomfort of those who break past boundaries to bring forth unthinkable ideas. Here, to be uncomfortable is not to retreat - but to rise, to stretch, to create. Much like Hoai’s transformation of biological reaction into sculptural expression, innovation often begins with disruption.
A Fusion of Art and Architecture
Stretching through a skylight that binds five floors together, The Mutant creates a shifting visual dialogue with every change in perspective. From each level, it reveals a new facet, a new meaning.
It’s not made to be instantly loved. It doesn’t conform to conventional beauty. But what’s truly different ever is? What success story doesn’t pass through the crucible of discomfort?
To work beside a piece that defies logic is to be prompted to question your own assumptions: What rules have I absorbed without knowing? What possibilities have I missed because I kept looking through a familiar lens?
“I work in tech, so I’m used to optimization, structure, logic,” says Tuan, founder of a local startup. “But The Mutant is the opposite - it’s visceral, open-ended. It makes me think differently, like rewriting code without relying on an old template.”
At Toong, art isn’t decoration. It’s the core. The Mutant doesn’t just occupy space - it disrupts it. It invites, demands, provokes. It asks you to pause. To reflect.
Outlier or Trailblazer?
At Toong, we believe bold visions never emerge from comfort zones. The Mutant is a living testament: creation starts with embracing discomfort - not as an obstacle, but as a catalyst. This is not the easy road. It’s the road of the frontrunner.
Toong doesn’t build workspaces. Toong cultivates environments where radical thought takes root. Where the pioneers among us embrace the “abnormal” in pursuit of the exceptional.
Editors: Bùi Bích Trà My, Nguyễn Thạch Thảo
