--- title: "A four-person lamp workshop in Saigon" description: "Started in 2021 with a lamp for a friend’s café. Five steps from a brass frame to the lamp lit in your home." canonical: https://denhachi.thenexova.cloud/en/workshop lang: en last-updated: 2026-10-04 --- Since 2021, about thirty lamps a month # A four-person lamp workshop in Saigon > Started in 2021 with a lamp for a friend’s café. Five steps from a brass frame to the lamp lit in your home. Nguồn / Source: https://denhachi.thenexova.cloud/en/workshop Đèn Hạ Chí is a four-person workshop in Gia Định ward (old Bình Thạnh), Saigon, founded in 2021, making about thirty lamps a month. Each one goes through five steps and carries a number engraved under its canopy. Updated 4 Oct 2026 ![The weathered hands of an older craftsman bending a metal wire frame at a workshop table](/_astro/workshop-hands-metal.DqMysQP5_1InWFn.jpg)![A craftswoman's hands weaving bamboo strips around a round, shade-shaped frame in a craft village in Hà Nội](/_astro/workshop-hands-rattan.S1aWSV2M_ljsSO.jpg)![A wooden workbench with a mallet, timber and curled shavings, a maker marking a board with chalk](/_astro/workshop-bench.DeldPyaf_1HyxWD.jpg) The workshop began with one lamp. Đặng Thu Hà had spent seven years making lamps for cafés when she made one for a friend’s café. Customers asked where to buy it. On 21 June 2021, the summer solstice that year, the workshop opened and took the name of the day: Hạ Chí. ## Four people - **Đặng Thu Hà**, founder: designs the lamps, draws every light mock-up, works with café owners, and measures the light with a handheld lux meter at every installation. - **Lâm Văn Lộc**, lead maker: has bent brass since he was 16; about half a day per frame. - **Huỳnh Thị Mến**: weaves the rattan and seagrass shades, lays the dó paper ones and applies the moisture coat. - **Tô Minh Khang**: wiring, test lighting, delivery, installation and warranty. Six years as a building electrician before he joined. Each has a profile on the [makers page](/en/workshop/makers). ## Five steps to a lamp **1\. The mock-up.** You send a photo of the room, the ceiling height and the table size. Within 48 hours Hà sends back the lamp drawn into your room, with its light, the configuration and the price. We revise until you approve, then you pay a 50% deposit. See the [light mock-up page](/en/light-mock-up). **2\. The frame.** Lộc softens brass rod with a torch and bends it on a wooden jig, one jig per design and size. About half a day per frame. **3\. The shade.** Mến weaves rattan or seagrass over a matching wooden mould, or lays two layers of dó paper (giấy dó, made from the bark of the dó tree) onto the frame. A 45 cm Hạ Chí shade takes her two days. Then the matte moisture coat. **4\. Wiring and a 24-hour test.** Khang wires the lamp, fits the E27 socket and a 2700K, 6 W LED bulb, and leaves it lit for 24 hours on the lighting bench. Then he engraves the number under the canopy and packs it with a spare bulb. **5\. Delivery and fitting.** Khang brings the lamp, hangs it, sets the height on site and photographs the number for our records. In Ho Chi Minh City this is free, once per order. You switch the lamp on, and only then pay the remaining 50%. Details on the [shipping and installation page](/en/shipping-and-installation). All five steps take three weeks from your deposit. ## The number and the ledger Every lamp has a number engraved under its canopy. The same number is a line in our ledger: date, design, configuration, who bent the frame, who made the shade, who wired it, and when it was installed. When you call about a fault, Khang asks for that number first. The 24-month warranty runs from that line; see [care and warranty](/en/care-and-warranty). ## Three rules we keep - **No more than thirty lamps a month.** Four people, a 24-hour test for every lamp, and every order in the city installed by us. Take on more and one of those gets cut. - **Every bulb is one you can buy at a corner shop.** E27, 2700K. When a bulb dies in ten years, you do not need to call us. - **The price on the drawing is the price.** What you approve is what you pay, before VAT, with no extras. ## Why stay small Four people cannot light a 200-room hotel, and we do not take that work. In exchange, the person who draws your mock-up is the one standing under the lamp measuring the light after it goes up, and the person who wove the shade knows which table it hangs over. A fifteen-lamp café takes about half of our month, so we tell you the delivery date from the first drawing. The workshop is at 71/9 Vũ Tùng, Gia Định ward (old Bình Thạnh, near Bà Chiểu market), open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 18:00\. To see the lamps lit and hold a brass frame, [book a visit](/en/visit-the-workshop). ## Not sure which lamp? Send one photo of the room. Within 48 hours you get it back with the lamp drawn in, free. [Send a room photo](/en/light-mock-up)[See the collection](/en/collection) ## The four makers - [![A young Asian woman in a black apron leans over a table with plants, arranging handmade pieces in a woven basket](/_astro/maker-linh.ddyzILd5_Z83EYp.jpg)Đặng Thu HàFounder, lighting design](/en/workshop/makers/dang-thu-ha) - [![An older Vietnamese weaver in a checked scarf carefully works a strip of bamboo in front of a wall of patterned woven trays](/_astro/maker-tam.9ivDkIYf_10GFR.jpg)Lâm Văn LộcBrass frame maker](/en/workshop/makers/lam-van-loc) - [![A Vietnamese woman in a conical hat and pink top weaves a bamboo frame in a workshop piled with woven baskets](/_astro/maker-hoa.C-dPTEtR_1dPVd0.jpg)Huỳnh Thị MếnRattan, seagrass and dó paper shades](/en/workshop/makers/huynh-thi-men) - [![An Asian craftsman in glasses and a black T-shirt sharpens a tool on a grinder in a warm, bright woodshop](/_astro/maker-minh.CYAFVOJt_ZgN9.jpg)Tô Minh KhangWiring, installation and warranty](/en/workshop/makers/to-minh-khang)