The new Museum of Da Nang at 42 Bach Dang Street will open up a unique historical space in terms of light, sound and animation effects, along with many unprecedented technologies in Viet Nam.

Simulation of light use at the new Museum of Da Nang

Following approval by the Da Nang authorities, a contest was launched in 2019 to seek the best architectural design for upgrading the existing headquarters of the municipal People’s Council at 42 Bach Dang into the Museum of Da Nang.

As a result, the StudioMilou Singapore won the first prize of the contest.

70-year-old French architect Jean-François Milou, the founder of studioMilou Singapore, is a world-famous expert in museum design with a series of landmark works in France, including the Museum of the Tumulus of Bougon, the Cite de la Mer Museum in Normandy, the National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse, the Carreau du Temple in Paris, the National Gallery Singapore, the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, the archaeological site of 18 Hoang Dieu in Viet Nam’s Ha Noi Capital, and the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE) in Quy Nhon Province. He is also a consultant of the UNESCO World Heritage Center working at monuments in India and Nepal.

And now, Jean-François Milou is the principal architect of the new Museum of Da Nang project at 42 Bach Dang Street, whilst his student, architect Nguyen Thanh Trung is in charge of the design of the project.

Additionally, the project sees the participation of veteran architect Nguyen Van Tat from the TAD Consulting & Design Co., Ltd. based in Ho Chi Minh City who was a member of the Planning and Architecture Council for the Prime Minister during the 1995-2000 period.

Simulation of the marine ecosystem projection area at the new Museum of Da Nang

Mr. Jean-François Milou is well known as a "light wizard" in museums. That is demonstrated with the 60,000m² National Gallery Singapore, with "a light curtain delicately placed on two historical relics, between the past and the future". A complex and delicate art bring new life to buildings without changing their soul.

The 8,686m² Museum of Da Nang along the bank of the Han River brings him a new excitement, both promoting his talent for connecting tradition with modernity and showing off his magic of illuminating different dimensions of the flow of history.

Light that knows how to create emotions, capture psychology and tell stories in a simple, elegant design space.

The lighting strategy in the museum's newly built space is to "use artificial light with animations and display content as if floating in an endless space, with a specific colour gamut that blurs the limits of space. This space will use advanced projection technologies, aiming to create interaction, and bring diverse experience about the Da Nang timeline.

Lighting system in the new museum has a special task of creating emotional and psychological audience connections, and leading the story to convey the message. Light is used metaphorically, subtly expressing the value of the object, stimulating the viewer's imagination and need for discovery.

The new museum will tell its own story: a cultural story - a peace story by combining two styles: traditional display with the use of modern technology. In particular, the modern part uses 4.0 projection technology, space reconstruction, 3D movie projection, 3D mapping, and installation space combined with interactive space and many multimedia devices.

Notably, the modern AV-IT system will be used for the first time in museums in Viet Nam. Like the short film recreating the 1858-1860 fight of our army and people against the French-Spanish invasion coalition on the Da Nang Bay.

The highlight is the use of Google map images with integrated information on the white tabletop projector with terrain, topography, contour lines according to the dotted map.

Reporting by TRAN TUAN - Translating by M.DUNG, P.TRA