Experts Outraged After Hanoi Opera House Repainted Without Permission

In a story (and color) eerily reminiscent of the Saigon Post Office’s botched paint job earlier this year, experts are blasting the new, garish shade of Hanoi’s 104-year-old opera house.

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After being repainted bright yellow earlier this month, experts lambasted the building’s management for conducting a makeover without a license and for the poor color choice, reports Thanh Nien.

The opera house seen in March 2015. Photo via Christine Chauvin.

But unlike the Saigon Post Office, the Hanoi Opera House is recognized as a national heritage site and any physical alterations must be approved by the Department of Heritage and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to Truong Minh Tien, vice director or the latter department, he “had no idea of the paint job.”

The opera house, built in 1911, got its first renovation in 1996 when experts painstakingly identified the original color.

This time around, it appears that the color was “…chosen randomly without proper research [sic],” wrote the paper, citing expert opinions.

"That yellow looked like the color of flags signaling the outbreaks of cholera in Hanoi during the colonial days," said Prof. Hoang Dao Kinh, a senior architect who was responsible for the 1996 facelift.

Only time will tell if this tragic comedy will follow the same storyline as the Saigon Post Office which was repainted following harsh criticism from both historians and the public.

[Photos via Zing]