Why rush to 'throw stones' at the West Lake Opera House?

Dr. Luong Hoai Nam speaks at the Tourism Conference organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper

INDEPENDENCE

There are things that only time can tell right or wrong.

*The idea of building the West Lake Opera House in the Quang An Peninsula Planning Project that is soliciting public opinion has received many reactions. Why do you think so?

- Dr. Luong Hoai Nam: I think the reason is that the information is not complete. I myself do not have complete information about this theater project. But I think this is not and cannot be a matter of a theater, but a matter of a whole public complex. The theater is just one item, maybe a central item, a symbol (landmark), but not the only item in that complex.

In addition to the theater, there are also squares, parks, spaces and walkways along the water, and roads connecting to other cultural works in that area. I want to emphasize the word “public” to understand that this will be an area for everyone, no one has the right to fence or set up a gate to collect tickets.

The theater and its component projects are public investments, unless they are socialized according to strict legal regulations. I don't think anyone wants and dares to violate the law, especially with recent developments with Hanoi leaders. If there were more complete information about this project, consensus would be higher, although there are always opposing opinions, with any project.

*With the documents you have accessed, what is your assessment of the project to build the West Lake Opera House?

- The theater design shared online, in my opinion, is just a design proposal from an investor interested in this project. For public works projects of this type, I believe the government will organize a design competition and select an investor in accordance with legal regulations. Perhaps it is not the time to criticize these things when the government has not yet started to do it.

Personally, I think it shouldn’t be called “West Lake Opera House” because there will be opera, but there will also be other theatrical performances such as symphonies, ballets, and maybe even modern theatrical performances. It is a multi-purpose theater, which can simply be called “West Lake Theater”.

For example, in Singapore's Marina Bay area there are two theaters named “Marina Bay Sands Theater” and “Sands Theater”, the theater names are not associated with any type of theatrical art.

But personally, I am not too interested in the symphony, opera, ballet shows… in the theater planned to be built in the West Lake area. I am more interested in the tourist space in the area where the theater is the center.

By "tourist space", do you mean the ability of cultural and entertainment facilities to attract tourists?

- Exactly. When he convinced people to build a 300-meter steel tower in Paris, Mr. Eiffel affirmed that there would be a lot of tourists coming and the city of Paris would earn a lot of money. No one asked Mr. Eiffel to estimate how much money he would earn from tourism. He believed that the project would attract a lot of tourists and made the decision makers believe the same. When a lot of tourists come, everyone knows that a lot of money will be earned from them.

At the Sydney Opera House, not everyone comes to see a show, some people just buy tickets to visit to learn about its history and structure, many people just walk around and eat outside the theater. I have been here dozens of times, but honestly, I have never seen a show in this theater. What does the Australian tourism industry know, how to make each tourist who comes there spend money (and not a little), whether they see a show in the theater or not.

The Sydney Opera House attracts more than 10 million visitors a year, which is a huge boost to Australia's tourism industry, just as the Eiffel Tower attracts 7 million visitors a year, which is a huge boost to France's tourism industry. These are also two of the most photographed structures in the world .

The unique architecture of the Hanoi Opera House that "historical monument of human architecture" Renzo Piano wishes to build in the West Lake area

*You just cited two famous buildings, the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower in Paris (France). These are also two of many famous architectural works today, but before their construction, they encountered strong reactions from the people?

- Not only before they were built, but even after they were completed, many people continued to fight for their demolition.

For those who are familiar with and love the ancient architecture of European theaters, the design of Danish architect Jorn Utzon looks like a monster lying on the shore of the beautiful Sydney Harbor. Its design was also too difficult to construct, the expected construction time of 4 years was extended to 14 years, the estimated budget of 7 million USD but the actual cost was 102 million USD.

Before that, the Eiffel Tower had encountered more obstacles for the French people. The Sydney Opera House at least had the function of a theater, the Eiffel Tower had no function other than being a symbol for the 1889 World's Fair held in Paris. There was a committee opposing the Eiffel Tower consisting of 300 artists and intellectuals, including the writer Alexandre Dumas. The Pope of the Vatican also objected because the tower was taller than Notre Dame Cathedral when completed.

Building a theater will create a public building for everyone to see or even just walk around in the square or park outside the theater. But if people decide to use that land to build luxury apartments or shopping centers, a public building will be lost forever, and everyone will suffer.
Dr. Luong Hoai Nam

That shows that, usually, any new thing that comes into life is difficult, especially new things that come from geniuses like architect Jorn Utzon or engineer Gustave Eiffel. If Mr. Utzon had designed a theater for Sydney like the famous theaters in Paris and London, the reaction would certainly have been much less. But, that is not Utzon, an architect who wants to be creative and innovative. As for building a 300-meter-high steel tower that has no purpose other than to be a symbol for the city of Paris before an International Fair, besides Eiffel, no one would dare to think of it, propose it, and convince the government.

It is understandable that people react to such groundbreaking projects. There are some things that only time can tell if they are right or wrong, good or bad.

In our country, when Japanese-American designer Victor Kubo proposed the Golden Lotus symbol and dark blue paint color for Vietnam Airlines' aircraft, many people opposed it during the branding project and after it was implemented in 2003. But now many people praise that symbol and paint color as beautiful and impressive.

The Sydney Opera House was once said to look like a monster lying on the shore of beautiful Sydney Harbour.

*Not only Hanoi, the project to build a thousand billion theater in Thu Thiem (HCMC) has also faced many objections since it was announced. Recently, HCMC also announced to temporarily suspend the project to prioritize public investment capital for infrastructure and transportation projects to promote economic recovery. Do you think that we should focus on national and people's projects first, then cultural and entertainment projects?

- I dare to affirm that, hundreds of years ago when European countries built theaters, their economic potential, living standards, and the number of people who had the need and conditions to go to the theater were less than in Vietnam today. The difference is that classical art forms in Europe have developed over many centuries, while in our country they are still very weak.

But, without theaters and without developing the market (increasing the number of people who want to go to the theater), it will be difficult for Vietnam's level in those artistic fields to develop. There is a huge contradiction that when we go abroad, we see others having this or that that our country does not have and we praise them, but when we want to do the same things at home, we get reactions, for a myriad of reasons.

Not to mention my concern is that the lands planned to build theaters in Thu Thiem (HCMC) and West Lake (Hanoi) are all prime lands and no one can leave these lands abandoned forever. If we don’t build theaters, at some point the land will be used to build other things.

But building a theater will create a public building for everyone to see or even just walk around in the square or park outside the theater. But if people decide to use that land to build luxury apartments or shopping centers, a public building will be lost forever, and everyone will suffer.

An estimated 7 million tourists visit the Eiffel Tower each year, generating a fortune for the French tourism industry.

*It is a fact that many tourism products, after being built, becoming famous destinations, attracting tourists, creating leverage for local tourism development... are criticized for environmental issues. Is it possible to balance development and environmental protection, sir?

- The balance between development and environmental protection is “sustainable development”, which means still developing, having to develop, but in a way that causes the least damage to the environment and nature. Whether a project is sustainable development or not needs to be evaluated based on rigorous scientific foundations, not just based on intuition and emotions.

For example: Singapore considers its land reclamation as an achievement, increasing its area by 25% and its coastline by several dozen kilometers, but in Vietnam, many people believe that land reclamation is a crime, no matter where or how. If you touch a tree or a mountain, many people will react.

Humans depend on nature to live, so we need to protect nature for the long-term living environment of humans. But humans cannot live, cannot develop society without exploiting nature. We are not whales, so we cannot know whether whales are afraid of ships or people, but we know that many countries in the world have whale watching tours, so our country can also do whale watching tours if there is an opportunity and a market for that service.

We really need to understand sustainable development correctly and avoid extremes in environmental protection issues, hindering investment projects from developing more than necessary. Our country is poor and needs to develop the economy!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tai-sao-phai-voi-nem-da-nha-hat-opera-ho-tay-1851493430.htm