Orona × LaPass Signature: Vietnamese Culture in Lift Spaces

A building is experienced through the way people move through and use its spaces. From a floor lobby into the cab, then through the doors as they open on the next floor, a lift offers a way to experience architecture through movement. Along this journey, function, materials, lighting and visual expression all help shape the user’s perception.

Orona × LaPass Signature explores these aesthetic qualities through the meeting of European lift technology and local art.

The project is a collaboration between Orona, the Spanish lift manufacturer, and LaPass, a creative enterprise working to develop the cultural industries.

Building on technology that meets European standards, Orona is gradually exploring the cultural depth and artistic creativity of Vietnam through LaPass. Together, they aim to develop a new generation of lifts that reflect a building’s architectural character and evoke the memories of Vietnam’s different regions.

As part of Orona × LaPass Signature, GamaLift has been selected to represent the project in Vietnam, overseeing implementation and providing lifetime product care.

Ander Epelde Goenaga, a representative of Orona (Spain), shared: “Vietnam has a culture with a rich and distinctive identity, and talented people who continually seek new ways to carry traditional values forward through creativity. We deeply appreciate this and hope to build Orona’s presence in Vietnam in a spirit of discovery, learning and collaboration with local partners and artisans.

Orona × LaPass Signature gives us an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Vietnamese art and the people who create its beauty. By bringing together Orona’s technology and the finest traditions of Vietnamese art, we hope to develop lift designs that embody Vietnam’s cultural identity.”

“This also reflects Orona’s mission and values: a commitment to lasting partnerships and deep respect for the culture and people of every place where Orona is present,” the Orona Group representative affirmed.

Materials that Carry Vietnam’s Memories

Explaining the choice of LaPass as a partner in the project, the Orona Group representative described it as a gathering of young people with artistic sensibility, a deep understanding of Vietnamese culture and exposure to modern European artistic thinking through their studies abroad. This combination provides a foundation for the two partners to develop Orona × LaPass Signature together, connecting European technology with Vietnam’s artistic identity.

Orona × LaPass Signature’s journey to bring Vietnamese art into lift spaces begins with “Vóc”, a collection centred on lacquer. Long woven into daily life through everyday objects, devotional statues and vermilion-lacquered and gilded details in sacred architecture, this material carried cultural memories well before it became a medium for painting.

In lacquer art, “Vóc” (lacquer panel) is the wooden core on which an artist creates a work. Whether a lacquer painting endures for decades or centuries depends on the quality of its. Drawing on this role, Orona and LaPass chose “Vóc” as the name of their first theme, symbolising a lasting foundation for a creative journey that brings European technology together with Vietnamese art.

The depth of its surface, areas of dark colour, vermilion hues and gleams of gold and silver give lacquer its distinctive allure. Behind the finished surface lies an intricate process of craftsmanship, in which the artisan’s hands and the passage of time both help shape its final beauty.

For “Vóc”, LaPass draws on these aesthetic qualities to develop artistic designs for Orona lifts, introducing a traditional material to a new functional setting.

From this starting point, Orona × LaPass Signature’s journey through Vietnam’s diverse cultural heritage will continue to unfold.

According to LaPass, “Vóc” will be followed by collections incorporating mother-of-pearl inlay, porcelain, pháp lam enamelling and other art forms. Each collection offers a way to explore and express local art, bringing Vietnamese cultural values into closer contact with contemporary architecture and everyday life.

In villas, apartments, hospitality settings and private reception spaces, a lift can become an artistic focal point to be admired, extending the architectural spirit of the entrance lobby and interiors.

A space with a one-of-a-kind character takes shape through deliberate choices that reflect its owner’s aesthetic taste, memories and personal story. Local art enriches this experience through traditional cultural values, preserved and reinterpreted through Vietnamese creativity.

With Orona × LaPass Signature, the combination of technology and art opens up further possibilities for shaping such spaces. Drawing on materials that carry Vietnamese memories, the project seeks to create designs that sit naturally within today’s architecture, so that every journey between spaces becomes another opportunity to experience the beauty and identity of the place one calls home.