It’s yet another case of new infrastructure versus old heritage building — one of Vietnam’s most common urban planning clashes in recent years.
As VnExpress reports, a century-old villa in Biên Hòa City, Đồng Nai Province currently faces demolition as part of the site where it stands will become a new road. The building was broken ground in 1922 and finished in 1924, and follows a French colonial style with all building materials imported from France.
It is known amongst locals by the nickname “nhà lầu ông Phủ,” after Võ Hà Thanh, a Đốc phủ (chef de province) under the French administration, overseeing Biên Hòa Province (now Đồng Nai). Thanh’s family has called the historic building their home for a century, though today only his great-granddaughter still lives on site to take care of the premise.
Built in the early 1920s, the villa's architecture is a blend of French and traditional influences.
The infrastructure project that will cut through part of the estate was inked three years ago, aiming to construct a 5.2-kilometer riverside road along the Đồng Nai River from Hóa An Bridge to Bình Hòa Commune. According to the plan, around two-thirds of the lot where nhà lầu ông Phủ sits will be part of the new road.
Ever since news of the impending demolition was published, the decision was met with uproar from netizens and experts, who argue that the removal of the building will negatively impact Đồng Nai’s architectural heritage. It is currently among the handful of structures in Đồng Nai from the historical period that still exist today, and was even used as the setting for the 1996 historical TV drama Người đẹp Tây Đô.
Following the backlash from concerned citizens, Đồng Nai officials recently organized an on-site assessment at the villa, including members from the departments of construction; culture, sports, and tourism; and other relevant state agencies.
The main room with the ancestral altar of Võ Hà Thanh's family.
At the time of writing, the fate of the building is still unclear, but some officials have expressed interests in finding ways to preserve the structure. Nguyễn Hồng Ân, deputy director of the Đồng Nai Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, told Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese: “It is our department’s opinion that [the state] should purchase the century-old villa for preservation.”
The culture department hopes that the Department of Construction and the management committee of the road project would adjust the riverside road’s route to retain the old villa.
[Photos by Phước Tuấn via VnExpress]
