Preserving and retaining all architectural works built during the French colonial period in Hue city is impossible and not in line with the upward development trend of society.

However, it is necessary to affirm the important role of this architectural sector in the urban heritage space of Hue in order to have a suitable approach, in the direction of comprehensive review in many aspects, selectively adding to the list of typical French architectural works of the city, arranging reasonable usage functions as well as building a clear legal protection corridor so that these works can effectively promote in contemporary life.

Create a legal corridor to protect typical works

Hue City has been formed for nearly 400 years, each historical period has left architectural marks, showing uniqueness, contributing to the cultural heritage treasure.

French architectural works in Hue have enriched urban life, these are important highlights that create the unique characteristics of the city.

French architectural works in Hue have enriched urban life, these are important highlights that create the unique characteristics of the city.

According to Dr. Phan Tien Dung - Chairman of the Hue City Historical Science Association, the city needs to establish a Council to conduct procedures for selecting, counting, evaluating and classifying villas and French-style buildings into groups according to the provisions of Circular 38/2009/TT-BXD, dated December 8, 2009 of the Ministry of Construction ; thereby, establishing policy mechanisms to support conservation (group 1 and group 2), identifying buildings of little value (group 3) that can be dismantled when there is a need to build or embellish the urban landscape.

The city also needs to assign relevant departments to inspect the quality and develop principles for renovating and using French-era architecture.

The French architectural structure that used to be the headquarters of An Phu Tan Company on Bui Thi Xuan Street has been abandoned for many years. (Photo: Do Truong/VNA)

Regulations need to be maintained and closely monitored for implementation, both to meet operations and to ensure safety for users and visitors.

“From the results of the inventory and comprehensive assessment of current French architectural works, the city needs to review the detailed planning, only retaining typical French architectural works that are suitable for the urban space on some specific routes and are representative of the city's development stage.

The rest can be considered for renovation, conversion, and construction of new structures to meet the city's new development requirements. This is also what many cities with French architecture in Vietnam are doing," said Dr. Phan Tien Dung.

Hai Ba Trung High School is one of the typical French architectural works in Hue city. (Photo: Do Truong/VNA)

Chairman of the Hue City Architects Association Phan The Dat shared that feelings of regret are common when long-standing architectural works are demolished.

The choice between preservation or demolition needs to consider many factors such as urban landscape harmony, functionality, safety and service to people.

Retaining all existing French architectural works in Hue for preservation will invisibly put pressure on managers in restoration and embellishment and will be difficult to achieve effectively - especially for Hue when it owns a Complex of Ancient Monuments with a diverse and massive system of architectural works.

According to some researchers, Hue city needs to select and restore a number of construction projects to serve as models for organizations and individuals who own French architecture to refer to.

The locality should prioritize the conservation of some works in the central area to create landscape highlights, especially the main axes along the Huong River, in accordance with future urban planning.

At the same time, the authorities can prepare dossiers to propose ranking of relics for a number of large and typical works such as Hue Railway Station, Tu Do Stadium, Hue University, Hue Post Office , etc.

The leader of Hue City Department of Construction said that the unit has coordinated with the Faculty of Architecture - Hue University of Sciences to research, survey and evaluate a number of French colonial architectural works in the area.

Initially, some content and data have been collected, serving as a basis for the next steps in assessing the quality and classifying these works, thereby advising the city to add them to the list of typical French architectural works of the city in the coming time.

Promoting heritage values to serve tourism development

In the segment of luxury hotels in Hue today, there are many works with French architecture with strong historical and cultural imprints such as Saigon Morin Hue, La Residence Hue Hotel... chosen by many domestic and foreign tourists when coming to Hue.

Hue Railway Station was built in 1908 and is one of the few railway stations with a long history that still retains typical French architecture to this day.

Hue Railway Station has French architectural style. (Photo: Do Truong/VNA)

In 2024, Vietnam Railways Corporation coordinated with the People's Committees of Hue City and Da Nang City to launch a train called "Connecting Central Heritage" to create a unique tourism product for tourists to experience history, culture, and majestic natural landscapes.

Promoting the value of colonial architectural heritage in Hue to serve sustainable tourism development is one of the best solutions to preserve heritage, revive heritage and integrate it into contemporary life, avoiding the risk of abandonment and degradation.

The two French architectural works at 23-25 Le Loi used to be the headquarters of many different agencies, but have now become a cultural, exhibition and reading space of Hue city and a favorite open sightseeing spot for tourists on the southern bank of the Perfume River.

Chairman of the Hue City Architects Association Phan The Dat said that French architectural works on Le Loi Street are being used to their full potential with small and medium-sized cultural and community activities.

Two French-style buildings at 23-25 Le Loi Street along the Huong River have become a space for books and Hue culture. (Photo: Do Truong/VNA)

Relocating the offices of departments, agencies and branches on the opposite side to call for investors is completely reasonable, aiming to extend the bustling Western quarter from Dap Da to Hue station, enhancing nightlife activities along the southern bank of the Perfume River.

According to Dr. Tran Van Dung, Department of Culture and Sports of Hue city, in order to exploit the potential and promote strengths to develop tourism, while not losing the inherent cultural-historical and architectural values of French architectural heritage, in addition to the drastic participation of authorities at all levels, functional agencies need the consensus and support of managers and preservers of the works.

Therefore, local authorities need to have policies and programs to disseminate information on French architectural heritage tourism development projects in a detailed and timely manner to the people to increase their understanding, support and contribution of opinions in planning and developing sustainable tourism projects.

At the same time, Hue city needs to strengthen coordination with travel agencies to design French architectural heritage tours, bringing tourists to visit and explore new cultural spaces, contributing to enriching and diversifying tourism types of Hue city.

Preserving typical French architectural works is a way to preserve the flow of cultural history and urban development history of Hue for today and tomorrow./.