There are few cities in Vietnam that possess such a diversity of architectural styles as Hai Phong. The harmonious combination of Asian and European architecture creates a distinctive urban appearance for the Port City. Among them, French architectural works are still used, becoming heritages of high cultural and aesthetic value. This is a valuable urban resource that needs to be preserved and exploited effectively to enhance the city's attractiveness, while contributing to promoting sustainable tourism development for Hai Phong.
Hundreds of typical projects
Director of the Department of Construction Nguyen Thanh Hung said that with a development history of nearly 150 years, Hai Phong is one of the major cities in Vietnam that has early formed a Western quarter with more than 300 French architectural works. Most valuable, to this day, most of the architectural works built by the French are still preserved quite intact, are being used and have become heritages with high cultural and aesthetic value, contributing to creating an urban appearance of Hai Phong that is both ancient and modern.
Among the French architectural works of the city, there are more than 100 typical works with unique architecture such as: headquarters of city agencies, City Theater and Theater Square, City Museum, Five Star Bank, Hai Phong Post Office, Hai Phong Railway Station, Area A of Ngo Quyen High School... The buildings were designed and built by the French quite carefully, although not large in scale, but neat and beautiful; fully gathering typical styles in Vietnam during the French colonial period from pre-colonial, classical, neoclassical, French local..., to Indochina, Neo Gothic, Art Decor and modern. In addition to the house, there is a combination of landscape elements of rivers, canals, lakes, flower gardens. The urban area is connected to the rivers. This creates a harmonious beauty of Hai Phong urban area that few urban areas in Vietnam have.
Not only that, Hai Phong urban architecture has its own identity with a mixture of residential, commercial, defense functions with industrial production and seaports. Right from the beginning of construction, the French oriented Hai Phong to become a major industrial center of Indochina. Therefore, in the urban area, many factories and enterprises were built and planned by the French in suitable locations, mainly associated with the Cam River to take advantage of the ability to transport goods by river such as: Hoang Dieu Port (formerly Ben Sau Kho), Hai Phong Cement Factory at the intersection of Ha Ly Canal; power plants, mills, spinning mills, etc. Over time, these works have become old and outdated, but they contain great cultural, historical and architectural values and meanings, are valuable heritages and resources for Hai Phong to develop, especially developing cultural tourism.
Turning heritage into resources
French architectural works are recognized and evaluated as having architectural, historical, cultural values, etc. However, in recent years, many ancient French architectural works in the city have been converted to serve different purposes without complying with regulations on management, use and conservation. Many valuable works no longer exist, many villas are being deformed, facing the risk of being replaced by high-rise buildings, etc. Therefore, it is urgent to protect and preserve unique French architectural works in order to preserve and maintain the integrity of Hai Phong's urban architectural heritage; at the same time, promote the value of architectural works for the purpose of developing the city in the new period. According to Head of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Department of Construction) Dang Thuy Van, recently, French architectural works with cultural value that are the headquarters of agencies in the city have been given attention for renovation and repair on the basis of preserving the original architecture. On August 7, 2024, the City People's Committee issued Decision No. 2799/QD-UBND on approving the Management Project and List of houses and architectural works with artistic, architectural, cultural and historical values that need to be preserved, embellished and protected.
Accordingly, there are 217 works classified as architectural works that need to be preserved, restored and protected, including: 12 type 1 architectural works; 68 type 2 works; 137 type 3 works; at the same time, there are 6 works managed according to specific regulations. The city assigned the Department of Construction to continue to preside over and work with relevant departments, units and localities to annually inspect, review, evaluate and classify additional valuable architectural works to find solutions for protection. The city will study and promulgate the Regulation on architectural management of Hai Phong city, which will have specific regulations on architectural management for historical urban centers clearly defined in the General Planning of Hai Phong city to 2040, with a vision to 2050.
Particularly for 217 works classified as architectural works that need to be preserved, restored, and protected, the proposed protection and restoration solutions are clearly defined for each type of work on the basis of a unified viewpoint of not "boxing" or preserving heritage works in the direction of "museumization", separating them from current urban life, but considering the works as living entities, organically attached to the rhythm of urban life. From there, the architectural works can "live" and become important places, attracting tourists, exploiting tourism development, turning heritage into a resource, a driving force for creativity and development of the city.