Over historical periods, the old architectural works built by the French in Da Nang in the past have always received the attention of people because of their classic, luxurious and artistic beauty. Therefore, the city needs to have an appropriate solution to preserve this group of construction works, thereby contributing to creating the typical architectural space of the city.

The Da Nang administration has decided to convert the function of a building at 42-44 Bach Dang which was the Da Nang City Hall during the French colonial epoch into the Museum of Da Nang. Photo: T.Y

Head of Architecture Department, Faculty of Architecture, the Da Nang University of Science and Technology, Dr. Le Minh Son affirmed that the process of acclimatisation of time has helped Da Nang to form a characteristic urban form, to which French colonial architecture is an important contribution.

Consider preserving historical values

Each of the existing French architecture in Da Nang contains cultural and historical values that need to be preserved. Ms. Vo Thi Oanh, the manager of the French villa at 56 Tran Quoc Toan said that this was built by her grandfather, Mr. Vo Ho Kiem, more than 100 years ago, following the French architecture that promotes aesthetic beauty with cool summer, warm winter secured.

To build this villa, Mr. Kiem transported cement, iron and steel, furniture from France and it took several years to complete the villa.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the streets, the French-styled house at 56 Tran Quoc Toan still retains its inherent charm and peacefulness and is considered as one of the French architectural houses that still retains the status quo, with 3 layers of doors and windows, along with Western-style design details.

The outside is old; the inside is cozy, the neoclassical interior is arranged in a balance and harmony between the colours and the light of the house. The wooden pillars and picture frames, photos, tables, chairs, and wooden cabinets stand out among the old ivory white walls. On the ceiling, simple and delicate decorative lights brighten up the luxurious and aristocratic space. In addition, the feature of the project is the solid, safe, and prominent wall system of a French villa.

“Before he died, my grandfather left a will demanding his children and grandchildren to keep the house, so my family was determined to keep it unchanged, although sometimes people have come to ask for rent to open a restaurant, but my family disagrees”, said Ms. Oanh.

In fact, not all French works can preserve the original architectural value, because there are many works that have faced the risk of disappearing if not handled appropriately. Mr. Bui Van Tieng, the Chairman of Da Nang Historical Science Association once expressed concern when Da Nang decided to dismantle the French architectural building at 70 Bach Dang, the former headquarters of the Da Nang chapter of Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee for the expansion of working space.

According to Mr. Tieng, the building at 70 Bach Dang is one of the few remaining French architectural heritages in the city. Therefore, the change of function needs to keep the design status quo, otherwise the city will lose another historical and cultural relic associated with the process of its formation and development.

Similarly, the project to renovate and convert the use of buildings at 42 - 44 Bach Dang and 31 Tran Phu, which used to be the Da Nang City Hall during the French colonial period into the Museum of Da Nang also received the attention of local residents, and cultural and historical researchers. Many of them believe that it is necessary to properly recognise the cultural and historical values of the land in each project, thereby giving directions for conservation and effective promotion.

Mr. Ha Vy, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Culture and Sports, affirmed that in the process of implementing renovation projects, the cultural sector always adheres to the principle of ensuring the original elements and keeping the core architectural features intact of the project.

Respect for diversity in architecture

Preliminary statistics show that Da Nang currently has more than 20 valuable French architectural works, concentrated mainly in Hai Chau District, such as Ecole Franco - An namite de Tourane (built in 1890, now known as the Phu Dong Primary School), Museum of Cham Sculpture (1919), Da Nang City Hall (1906), Da Nang People's Court (1906) and Da Nang Women's Union headquarters (1920). Most of the works have been added to the list of the need to preserve and promote the value of cultural and historical heritage.

The Department of Culture and Sports has carried out many rounds of inventory, classification and assessment of the current state of valuable works to take protective measures. The Department also compiles scientific dossiers for their submission to competent authorities so that they can secure berths in the inventory of valuable works as a legal basis for conservation work.

On the other hand, based on the 2019 Architecture Law, the municipal Department of Construction has actively coordinated with the Department of Culture and Sports to make statistics, assess the current status and value of French architectural works and advised the municipal People's Committee to bring them onto the list of valuable architectural works.

“Currently, we are coordinating with other relevant agencies to develop a regulation on management of architecture in Da Nang, including French architectural works. The promulgated regulation will create a legal corridor for State management agencies as well as contribute to raising public awareness in heritage protection’, said Vy.

Meanwhile, Ph.D Le Minh Son said that French architectural works in Da Nang are unique and irreplaceable. With aesthetic beauty, harmony, usability ensured, this group of works will contribute to creating the city’s typical architectural space.

If Da Nang focuses on developing according to the modern dynamic trend such as high-rise buildings and complexes, without balancing the old - new factors, then it will be like Singapore or similar to some other countries in the world. This leads to a fact that development without local identity, not in a sustainable way.

It can be said that the greatest value of the French architecture fund is to promote tourism development to serve international tourists, especially European ones, followed by the value of local identity.

Besides the weather factor, the life of the building, another factor that causes difficulties to the preservation of French architecture is that Da Nang currently has no original drawings of these French-built works.

In reality, the restoration not based on the original drawings has caused many works to lose their inherent architectural values. With many studies on French architecture in Da Nang, Son worries the restoration and preservation that is not based on the original drawings, historical documents, is done by people without expertise and is not closely supervised, will lead to deviations from the original architecture.

Son cited, the old houses in the Hoi An ancient town were supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to restore according to the original, thereby restoring the original shape and architecture. “Renovating according to the original construction method always brings the highest value to the project. Not to mention, during the restoration process, researchers who work responsibly, scientifically will limit the use of new materials, considering it taboo and impractical.

He suggested a need to promote the value of the French building architecture fund in the new period: converting the use function, subleasing it to famous service business groups in the world provided that there are specific binding regulations on preserving the architectural value of the works in order to bring the breath of the times to the old buildings.

It is undeniable that the process of urbanization has greatly affected the protection, restoration and restoration of French architectural works in the area. In addition, the harmonization between the interests of the owner of the work with the preservation and promotion of the value of the monument faces many difficulties.

In order to remove the difficulties step by step, Vy proposed the Da Nang authorities to issue a code of conduct for old architectural works to raise public awareness in the effective management and conservation of the values of such architectural works. For valuable French architectural works, restoration and embellishment work should ensure the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage and relevant legal documents, in which the construction unit must ensure capacity and collect opinions about design options from experienced experts and relevant agencies in advance.

Reporting by TIEU YEN - Translating by A.THU