Looking for future inspiration in the past

Hanoi’s rich architectural heritage is providing inspiration for today’s architects as the city
rapidly develops.

Hanoians have their own love affair with their city, and I have mine. While visitors may wallow in the
unique ambience of a city the French dubbed ‘the Paris of Indochina’, my love affair with the city isn’t
for the great wedding-cake buildings the French brought with them and dropped incongruously into
northern Vietnam, nor is it the ersatz French-style villas beloved by the Doi Moi enriched-generation
that adorn swathes of streets along the northern side of West Lake.

My love affair with the city’s architecture is greatest for those small niches in time, slivers in the city’s
history, which offer inspiration in the present. One of those rare periods in history where the dialectic
of occupation created something unexpected and treasured - a combination of modernity and
indigenous forms that has not been replicated anywhere else globally with quite the same level of
success.

According to Professor Hoang Dao Kinh, the birth of “Vietnam’s contemporary architecture coincided
with the French colony. It was the most important transitional time for Vietnamese architecture and
urban development…because, before the 19th century, Vietnamese architecture was traditionally
completely wooden. Westerners, especially the French, brought a new European style of architecture
to Vietnam, creating a transitional period bridging traditional and modern architecture.”

French classical architecture had appeared in Vietnam long before the new Director of Indochina
Architectural Planning Authority, Ernest Hebrard’s arrival in 1921, after which the profile of French
architecture in Hanoi changed dramatically.

Prior to his arrival, Hanoi was, as the ‘Paris de l’Annam’ (Paris of Annam), supposed to become a
smaller copy of the French capital in South-East Asia; this was motivated as much by political reasons
as by their self-perception of their ‘Mission civilisatrice’ (civilising mission).

Hebrard’s approach was fundamentally different; he created a revolutionary blend of traditional

Oriental architectural idioms, while the main expression of French architecture is manifested in roof
cornices and canopies, rafters and supports. A closer look at the details, such as their round windows,
hints at an impression of Chinese architecture. All the stereotypical Indochinese features are
ingeniously arranged in harmonious unity, providing an Oriental profile on Occidental works. He
adapted designs to the climatic conditions of Hanoi, providing long lobbies, thick walls, roof canopies,
verandas, patios and ventilation holes. These purely Vietnamese architectural details help keep
buildings warm in winter, cool in summer and provide protection from the heavy rainfalls and
overbearing sunshine, while at the same time allowing sufficient air circulation.

Hebrard’s novel architectural style respectfully dubbed the “Indochinese Architectural Style” can be
found in the offices of the National University of Vietnam, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
Museum of History, the Northern Gate Cathedral and the Pasteur Institute.

Hebrard also inspired a generation of Vietnamese architects to follow in his footsteps. Their projects
were ambitious: creating modern villas with a mixture of Western and Asiatic styles or cheap
apartment blocks and housing estates for middle and working class Vietnamese.

However buildings alone don’t make a street. It’s worth noting previously, every main street of Hanoi
was lined with one kind of tree. For example, banyan trees grew on Dien Bien Phu, sapindus on Tran
Phu, alstonia in Nguyen Du and hopea odorata on Lo Duc. Today, however this seems to have been
forgotten. Instead priority has been given to the fastest growing species.
Archipel architect team leader Ms Hang Vuong Huy, agrees that the site of a new building is as
important as the building itself ‘even before we start a design, we visit the site, take photos and analyse
the surroundings…of course there are regulations to adhere to within different zones, French
influenced designs for Hoan Kiem district for example…but further out there is room for modern
experimentation’.

It’s pleasing to know that the city authorities are also showing concern about the thorny question of
architecture. Hang continues ‘new buildings within the area surrounding Hoan Kiem lake are vetted
very carefully so that the styles of adjacent buildings have a bearing on a new project…perhaps some
details on the buildings may flow from one to the other’.

However she also believes homeowners also need to be aware of the affect they’re having on their
urban landscape: ‘everyday I go past buildings that just need to be knocked down, they’re an awful
mix of a French ground floor, perhaps a modern second floor, topped off with a imitation of a pagoda
roof’ she says ruefully. A point echoed by Ms Van Hoang Ta from the Institute of Architecture who
says part of the problem is while a client may ask for a three storey building to conform to planning
regulations; they quite cheerfully will add another floor or two after construction has begun.

I conclude by asking Hang a question that has been nagging away at me for a long time. Is there a
modern Vietnamese architecture, and if so, what is it? She pauses and speaks of the projects that
Archipel are involved in. ‘You can use modern forms and materials, but if you look closely at what we
are trying to do, you will find Vietnamese characteristics and symbols fused with very modern
designs’.

While the French themselves outlived their stay, the Vietnamese have always been shrewd enough to
absorb and adapt the influences that they appreciate. French bread has become ban mi, coffee has been
transformed into ca phe sua da, and even the ice-cream now features the rich oriental flavours of
durian and young rice, its time for that ingenious spirit to awaken again and peer at modern
architecture through the prism of Vietnamese eyes.

Just before I leave Archipel’s offices I glance at some drafts for the new National Assembly building
and National Museum of History that Hang has been describing and see, that there is indeed a new
generation of architects emerging with an utterly futuristic Vietnamese vision for Hanoi.

By J.C Smith