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Architecture of villages in Vietnam

It is an urgent matter to find out a new model of the village, new mechanism appropriate to the development of science and technology in the trend of integration and globalization. At present, many planners, managers often use this concept of "rural urbanization". From my point of view, it should reconsider this concept. Urbanization means the process of tuming somewhere into the city. But not due to this reason that Vietnam's rural area would be turned into the city. The mechanism of the traditional villages with important factors such as a dike, a village gate, a communal house, a banyan tree, a house with a closed pond and garden is in harmony with the natural environment, is the features to preserve and perfect on the new process of the development. If the civilization has been given to rural development but must not lost good traditional cultural characteristics of the countryside. There should improve infrastructure in the rural areas such as to build clean water, electricity system; cement roads - this is a true direction expressing attention of the Party and the government to Vietnam's peasant class.

Concern about the rural architecture

Structure of Vietnamese villages consists of following areas: The first one: this is a settlement place. Like some people in South East Asia, the Vietnamese has a feature of the settlement place of the dead. According to the common opinion, the sun goes down to the West expressing transition from this world to the other. So the place of the dead is often situated in the West. In the structure of Vietnam's villages the settlement and the cemetery were put together and surrounded by rice fields. The second one: some structures of the Vietnamese's villages were also specialized by a small forest. We need understanding on the village forest where the cultural features were imprinted and expressed by the culture of the people originating from the Northern Delta.In the process of urbanization many houses next to the suburb have decorated by a pyramid on top. It was strongly criticized but this is a production of mixture of the new and old culture. It requires architects to design many appropriate models to interfere development of this architecture.

Dream of the golden millet

The ancient villages have been established on strips of land and floating hillocks in the Red river delta, along the banks of Red, Thai Sinh, Cau, Thuong, Day rivers and their branches. As interdistrict and interprovincial roads, river traffic has played an important role in transporting goods and linking the villages, in which Thang Long was considered a center. Several villages had a public place serving as a market. The market has been divided into some levels such as provincial, district markets. Thang Long and Pho Hien were state-level markets. Due to the fights against invaders and fires so almost the villages have specialized by defensive characters. The house are not only four walls but also a hearth, a place for training personality, a fatherland, a native land, an old friend. It is in time if rethink and reconstruct every section, every road and every alley. In this case, regime and possession of the cultivated land should be defined clearly and the architects in every region should playa decisive role in appearance of the countryside, consult rural inhabitants in the field of construction, educate spirit of citizen and equal relations before the law instead of public opinion. This is a thought on regaining the beauty of ancient countryside in accordance with current development, do not leave Vietnamese villages to disappear in the dream of the golden millet.

Duong Lam ancient village

Duong Lam ancient village which has been classified by the govemment consists of 5 villages: Mong Phu, Cam Thinh, Dong Sang, Doai Giap, Cam Lam. The first area of preservation is Mong Phu village. The second one includes 4 remaining villages. It is very difficult to preserve environment landscape of the large area. The traditional house built in one lot of land can satisfy living conditions of one household. What happens to the household including some couples or the large household which wants to be separated into smaller ones? They could not divide this lot into 2 or 3 parts to build the tube-houses that would break down the landscape of the ancient village and violate the law of cultural heritage. The inhabitants have demand to rebuild the hundred-year old walls which is easy to fall down as well as to repair degraded valuable traditional houses or renew and enlarge normal 4-level houses, add the secondary buildings. People and authorities in Duong Lam commune are waiting concrete policies issued by the govemment on preservation and restoration of Duong Lam village monument.

Factor of Feng-Shui rule in establishment of the villages

Air and vitality give direct effects to the human, from their body, voice, sitting and lying place to intellectual development of every person, but so far many poeple do not think like that, even consider it as superstition. At present, Feng-Shui rule has been become an object of the science and carried experiments prove that the Feng-Shui rule which was applied for a long time ago is true. Together with the ring-roads surrounding the village, a system of lanes in the village, a gate of the house facing the lane are necessary factors to be applied by the Feng-Shui rule. For the house in towns or cities, the gate is the door so it is necessary to pay attention to the Feng-Shui rule. The system of the ponds and lakes around the village is an important factor in the feng-shui rule which contributes to regulate air and water. Underground water flows and stops there, and good air also converges there. These ponds and lakes which was brimful of water prove that good air brings sustainable development for the tree and people.

Factors creating architectural appearance of the Vietnam Northern delta's traditional villages

The trrends has been changing architecture of the Northern delta's traditional villages and solutions. In recent years, renovation and opened policies have pushed up the process of changing architecture of the traditional villages with unprecedented rapid tempo in history of Vietnam's villages.

Major issues of preservation and restoration projects

Solution to resist heat, noise and energy saving

Traditional houses in Cuu Long river Delta

Traditional villages in the Northern Delta from the angle of modern architectural theories

Traditional villages in the Northern Delta of Vietnam

To define relatively preservation and development of the cultural heritage of the Northern Delta's villages of Vietnam, firslly the author carried out general inventory, make statistical books of the villages, make current maps of the ancient villages in the whole area, evaluate preserving state of the villages to define the mechanism and preserving level of every concrete kind. For example, the original villages which has not been affected by urbanization, has no multistory buildings, has little amount of flat-roof houses and keeps many valuable cultural heritage satisfying national criteria on monuments could be set up a file for classifying as the national monuments. For the villages which has been affected partly by urbanization such as multi-story buildings, flat-roof houses, ponds and roads built modernly, but their religious customs, social culture and the traditional houses are still being maintained so can select one part or valuable things to preserve.

Traditional villages on the process of urbanization

Tropical climate and architecture of the traditional villages in the North Vietnam

Having analyzed in details effect of the tropical climate on traditional architecture of the Vietnam Northem delta's villages we realize that our ancestors solved reasonably relations between the climate and architecture, created appropriate planning architectural measures which links with natural environment and establishes convenient microclimate for people. This is valuable property that it be need to inherit and develop in creating the modem architecture full of Vietnam's specific characteristics.