Huế—unlike many well-protected Asian ancient cities—currently faces enormous challenges in preserving its cultural heritage, including its historic architecture due to rapid urbanization in the wake of today Vietnam's unprecedented population and economic growth. Having survived seven historic centuries, witnessing the rise and fall of the last dynasty, Hue presents the most fascinating evidence of Vietnamese royal architecture, much of which, however, is in danger of decay and destruction. The project is a collective attempt made by a group of Vietnamese and international artists, architects, researchers, scholars, and activists, to raise awareness about this underappreciated issue and establish Hue's cultural continuity through preserving cultural material, especially architecture, the social current that records historical evolution. Protecting the architecture of Hue is not simply a nostalgic act but a solution to the confused state of identity and a strategy for survival.

French-German filmmaker Cyril Eberle is a devoted storyteller with a career spanning documentary, commercial, short-film, music video, media installation, and corporate productions. He is a storyteller with strong visuals and emotional depth who loves pushing his actors for sincere and authentic performances. While creative concepts are his passion, Eberle has accumulated a wealth of experience in all aspects of production and post-production. Eberle set up three offices for Avantgarde Film in Berlin, Dubai, and Shanghai. He was head of production and creative director, working for international clients around the world. Since 2012, Cyril has worked as an independent director, creative director, and photographer. Eberle has directed films such as Arabic Fusion, Hashard, Ruman, and Dayfly. He is currently working on a TV documentary in Southeast Asia entitled The Mysteries of the Mekong as well as developing a documentary series named #MyNextChallenge for the Middle Eastern market.

Phi Yen Nguyen holds a master's in architecture degree from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design (GSD) and a bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) from Berea College (USA). She is currently practicing architecture in Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as a lead designer, while teaching art history courses within CUCA (Contemporary for the Understanding and Creation of Art) initiatives. Nguyen has experiences working in both art and design practice and research from renown firms and institutions such as the Harvard Art Museums (Boston, MA); Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York); Kengo Kuma and Associates (Tokyo, Japan); GUNDPartnership (Boston, MA); and the Archeological Exploration of Sardis Program (Sardis, Turkey). Her research interests lie in the preservation of architecture as cultural heritage and collective identity through both traditional and contemporary design lenses. She is the chair of the paper session “Architectural Preservation in Asia” at the Society of Architectural Historians' 71st Annual Conference in St. Paul, MN in 2018.

Dung Quoc Ngo is a registered architect in Vietnam and a virtuous illustrator. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Architecture. Dung is the cofounder and principal of atelier NgNg, a research and design studio in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam after working at different firms such as S&D and Archetype Group. Dung has over 17 years of experience in design and construction, supervising a wide range of projects and competitions from hotels, resorts to office buildings, including Rex Hotel (HCMC), Continental Hotel (HCMC), Victoria Hotel (Siem Reap) and so on in multiple cities in Vietnam (Saigon, Nha Trang) and abroad (Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the US). He has also done multiple illustrations for different media projects as well as being the artistic director for various videos.

Artist and independent curator Huong Pham Dieu holds a double degree in plastic arts and aesthetics/philosophy and a master's degree (with honors) in visual arts from Paris I, Pantheon-Sorborne University. As an educator, Dieu Huong has both lectured at multiple conferences and published widely on the subjects of arts and culture and judged international art competitions. She has taught aesthetics, curatorship, world art history, and art critique at Vietnam University of Fine Arts since 2009. In 2012, Dieu Huong founded and directed two art educational projects E.A.T. (Exercitation.Art.Term) for students at Vietnam University of Fine Arts and for the public at CUCA (Contemporary of Understanding and Creating Art). CUCA is an independent platform for the education, research, and practice of the arts. Since its foundation, CUCA has made a tremendous contribution to educate and raise public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of different art forms, from music, dance, and visual art to architecture, through courses, publications, exhibitions, and performances. A multi-talented artist, she has exhibited, performed, and choreographed at various venues, in Vietnam and abroad (France). Solo exhibitions of her oil paintings include Nguon Coi and Chin cai nhin moi in France (2003 and 2004 respectively), and Chan dung tu hoa va Sen in Hanoi (2009). Dance performances in Paris include Diminutomax and 4ème Sous Sol (2003 to 2009).

Hoanh Tran is a Vietnamese American architect who studied architecture at Columbia University in New York, Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, and RMIT Melbourne. Living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran’s practice includes designing, teaching, researching, and writing. Together with Archie Pizzini, Tran founded HTAP Architects in 2004. Their projects range from small scale boutique galleries to larger scale resorts. Tran has been teaching at various institutions including RMIT, Curtin University, and Ho Chi Minh City Architecture University. His researches focus mainly on cities. He is fascinated with the contemporary responses to the super-dense urban context. He views cites as accumulating strata where design can intervene in the process of deleting, adding, and weaving. Tran gives lectures about design and cities and preservation. He writes columns and articles for various journals and websites.