A Vietnamese with a German degree

The degree was in agriculture. Back home in the 1990s nobody needed a German-trained agronomist, so he became a tour guide for German visitors and learned what he would need later: patience, detail and trust.

Years on, a German architect on one of those tours asked whether he could help draw plans. “I do not know how to draw. But if you teach me, I will learn.” Two months of struggle later, 1000 Ants had its first drawings. Today the studio delivers thousands every month.