A total of 70 official documents, photos and technical drawings of six outstanding buildings with French architecture in Ha Noi are being showcased at an exhibition which opened at the Ha Noi Opera House on October 9.
The Opera House, an outstanding French architecture work in Ha Noi.
These are the works designed and built by French architects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Opera House, the Louis Finot Museum (now the National History Museum), the Ha Noi Post Office, the Indochina University (now managed and used by the Viet Nam National University-Ha Noi and the Ha Noi University of Pharmacy), the Indochina Finance Office (now the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry) and the Doumer Bridge (now Long Bien Bridge).
The exhibition, entitled “French Architecture in the Heart of Ha Noi”, is part of the Opera House’s historical and architectural tours and art shows. It is also one of the activities being held to celebrate Ha Noi’s Liberation Day which falls on October 10.
The exhibition is expected to provide visitors with a comprehensive view of Hanoi’s architecture during the French colonial era and facilitate access to archives that are particularly significant to research on the capital’s history and culture.
During their nearly a decade in Viet Nam, with a dream of a “French-style administrative capital in the Indochina”, the French constructed many works, notably offices and cultural works in the Western style. French architecture has since become a heritage symbol with cultural, architectural and functional values in Ha Noi as well as in many other cities in Viet Nam.
Over time, most of the buildings constructed by French people in Hanoi are still in use and have become the outstanding architectural highlights of the capital.
The exhibition, jointly held by the National Archives Centre 1, Ha Noi Opera House and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will run until October 27.