Vietnamese and Japanese experts gathered for a workshop in the central city of Hue on November 12 to discuss traditional wooden architecture in the preservation of architectural relics in the former imperial city of Hue.
The workshop, the first of its kind, was jointly organised by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC), the UNESCO World Heritage Institute at Japan's Waseda University and the Japan Architects' Association.
Participants said that traditional wooden architecture plays an important role in the Hue monument architectural system. They stressed that the thorough understanding of materials, manipulating methods, structures and factors that affect wooden architectural works is an important foundation for the conservation and restoration of relics.
Researchers discussed the traditional wooden architectures of Vietnam and Japan and their similarities.
The two sides shared experiences and proposed measures to conserve wooden architectural works, as the Hue relics are badly affected by global climate change.
Waseda University is coordinating with HMCC a study of the restoration of the war-torn Can Chanh Palace , which was the second largest - after Thai Hoa Palace - in the Imperial Palace.
The project is estimated to cost 10 million USD. Funded by official development assistance (ODA), construction is expected to be completed in five years.