Preserving and promoting traditional housing architecture of ethnic minorities

Located entirely in the core area of ​​Ba Be National Park, Pac Ngoi village, Nam Mau commune is the main residential area of ​​the Tay ethnic group. Not only does it have beautiful natural scenery and fresh climate, this place also creates a special impression for many domestic and foreign tourists about a land imbued with national cultural identity. Many households in Pac Ngoi have taken advantage of traditional stilt houses to convert them into homestays to welcome guests. In Pac Ngoi village, there are currently nearly 100 stilt houses, many of which are hundreds of years old... In recent years, local authorities have regularly promoted and mobilized people to preserve and promote traditional cultural values, especially preserving architectural space and housing, because this is one of the important factors attracting tourists to stay and creating the image and brand of Pac Ngoi community tourism .

Nong Thuong Commune, Bac Kan City is implementing the construction of an advanced new rural area, with 74% of the commune's population being Tay ethnic people. For the people here, the stilt house tradition has long been closely associated with life, a place to form culture and nurture the souls of many generations. In recent years, the urbanization rate has developed quite rapidly, more and more solid and spacious houses have been built, causing many changes in the rural face of the commune. However, there are still many households in the area that still preserve the beauty of traditional stilt houses.

Mr. Ha Duc Dinh, Khuoi Chang village, Nong Thuong commune shared, "My family's stilt house has been through 3 generations and is now degraded. To preserve the traditional living space, in the coming time, my family will only reinforce the wooden pillars, the floor with new materials, and tile the roof... to ensure the house is sturdy and safe."

Some traditional stilt houses in Nong Thuong commune, Bac Kan city

Implementing the construction of new rural areas and urban development planning in the direction of green, fast, sustainable and imbued with national identity, localities in the province always pay attention to preserving and promoting the value of traditional architectural spaces of ethnic communities to improve the spiritual life of people, associated with the development of tourism types. Not only residential houses, currently, many cultural works and historical relics of great stature of the province, typically Uncle Ho Memorial House at Na Tu Historical Relic Site, the Central Cultural House of Pac Nam District... are built in the style of ethnic architecture, combined with modernity, creating a characteristic highlight for the land of Bac Kan.

However, with the development of society, the construction and architectural design in some areas in the province, especially areas with potential for tourism development, tend to change in design, materials and functions. The change to adapt to modern life leads to the risk of losing national cultural identity and reducing the province's unique tourism appeal.

Architect Nong Quang Huyen - Chairman of the Bac Kan Province Architects Association said that the management, preservation and conservation of traditional architecture depends on the specific conditions of each region and the customs of the people; conservation must be closely linked to the needs of life, creating income is a long-term and effective measure. However, the number and quality of state management personnel in the field of architecture are still limited; the funding sources allocated to implement projects and scientific topics in the field of architecture are not many in the context of limited local resources. Traditional architectural works are increasingly degraded due to time, weather and social factors, there is no funding to support maintenance and repair, on the other hand, the source of materials to restore and repair traditional architectural works is increasingly scarce.

In order to preserve and conserve traditional architecture, in July 2024, the Provincial People's Committee approved the explanatory content and budget estimate for the implementation of the provincial-level science and technology project "Assessing the current situation and proposing designs for traditional housing models of some ethnic groups in Bac Kan province"; in which specific objectives are identified to assess the current situation and propose solutions to preserve and maintain the culture and architectural space of traditional housing of some ethnic groups in Bac Kan province, select and develop a design dossier based on the selected traditional housing model, with elements of change to suit new materials, living needs and serve tourism development, promote and advertise traditional housing architecture of some ethnic groups in the province.

Localities have also reviewed and proposed the locations of villages and hamlets in the area with potential for tourism development, and proposed traditional architectural forms of individual houses suitable to the customs, practices, and traditional culture of each village and hamlet. In the process of rural planning, the orientation of the organization of architectural planning space, especially traditional architecture, has also been of interest to localities, integrating to combine traditional culture and develop types of community tourism and cultural tourism; in particular, for the Planning for the conservation and promotion of the value of Ba Be Lake's scenic landscape, the People's Committee of Ba Be district is the organizing agency that has oriented the organization of space, old and new architectural works, preserving the environmental landscape of the relic protection area, promoting the value of traditional indigenous architecture of ethnic minorities, currently being submitted for appraisal.../.

Source: https://backan.gov.vn/Pages/giu-gin-va-phat-huy-kien-truc-nha-o-truyen-thong-c-0412.aspx