Perspective Source/Quotation/My comments Category

Architect Phuong Phi Pham and Thile-Thi Vo ( published in August 2019) Theory of the
Website:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ transition
336166546_Transitional_Characteristics_of_Ancient_Vietnamese_Housing_in_Mekong_Delta process of
architectural
The aim of this paper is to explore the transition in the architectural characteristics of the ancient Vietnamese characteristic
housing in Mekong Delta, in Southern Vietnam from 1858 to 1945. For this purpose, this study selects six ancient s of ancient
houses to determine the architectural characteristics that reveal the relationship between society and architecture
during this period. Then, these ancient houses’ characteristics are analyzed based on six factors which are Vietnamese
settlement characteristics, planning scheme, facade, structure, material, and interior decoration to show the houses
transition in their architectural style. Six factors of ancient houses are surveyed by three methods: using of the
electronic distance meter to determine the size of houses, taking photos and drawing of the houses to analysis the
architectural characteristics and interviewing the landlord to get information about ancient houses. As the results,
the study explored the difference in the ancient houses style which is strongly affected both by French style to
their facade and Chinese style to their interior decoration, but the spatial structure is still remained to Vietnamese
people. In conclusion, the characteristics of selected houses should be considered in detail as a reference to the
current design goals.
[The influence from the war with France or 1,000 years of Chinese domination has contributed significantly
to creating our ancient architecture in Vietnam]
Historian Phạm Thanh Tùng ( published in 25/11/2013) Theories
Website: https://kienviet.net/2013/11/25/kien-truc-lang related to
architectural
….In rural architecture, which I call village architecture, what is that highlight or element? I have attended many culture and
large and small conferences with the participation of many managers at all levels, architects, planners, and heard traditional
many lofty arguments and general calls when discussing rural architecture. But practical research is still very rare! village
In the world, there is no country that does not have two living environments: urban and rural. If there is a
countryside, there is a village. But perhaps nowhere else has a village structure like in our country. Vietnamese structures
village - a typical village type of the Northern Delta, a product of wet rice civilization. Traditional Vietnamese
villages are not large in scale. The village is located next to fields and rice fields owned by village residents. This
village is separated from the other village by the village field. For thousands of years, the social relationship in the
village has mainly been the relationship of "family - relatives - village". Some Ethnological researchers believe
that the village is an extension of the bloodline, the country is further away, but shares the same origin.The spatial
structure of the village is not complicated, but also not simple to the point of monotony. In the Northern Delta,
almost every village is surrounded by green bamboo, whether the village is inside the dyke or outside the dyke
(outside the beach). The green bamboo pile is thick with layers of bamboo trees and bamboo shoots like a wall to
protect the village when there are robbers or foreign invaders, and is a place to provide materials for villagers to
build houses, make agricultural tools and other household items. other daily. To enter the village, you must go
through the village gate. Ancient village gates were often built of bricks.Many villages in the midlands and Doai
region are built of laterite, bonded with lime mortar mixed with molasses and salt, which is very sturdy and
durable despite rain, sun and time. Through the village gate is a turtle-shaped paved road. From here we will enter
the village world with a system of horizontal roads and shortcuts like fish bones, of which village roads are the
backbone. But no matter where you go, each house opens its gate and you see the alley, through the alley is the
village road.Year after year, one person followed another, all walking on the village road and passing through the
village gate. Someone compared the village gate to a train station, there is waiting, there is separation. There were
tears in my eyes in the late afternoon as I sent my lover off on a long journey. She has a skinny and disheveled
mother who has spent her entire life raising her children and waiting for her husband throughout the war.
Professor Hoang! For me and maybe even for you, that simple village gate cannot be a "highlight" and an
important "point element" in the village structure!
Historian In the village there are communal houses, pagodas, and shrines, but the communal house has the most special
position in the social life of the village. This is not only a place to worship the village's Thanh Hoang, a Craft
Patriarch or a villager who has contributed to the country, but also a place for common activities of the village
community. If we consider the village as a miniature Vietnamese society during the feudal period, then the
communal house is the image of the village. That is where meetings of dignitaries and elders in the village take
place.From holding an old-age ceremony for one family, punishing another family for having an unmarried
daughter who is pregnant, to important village events such as welcoming the king's proclamation, village
festivals... everything takes place in the communal house's yard. according to village rules. The village
communal house is a unique architectural work, from the erection technique to the delicate carving art on the
truss, traps, stripes... is the quintessence of traditional architectural art. Houses in the ancient village were
mostly bungalows with mud walls. Later there were brick walls and tile roofs. The architecture is almost the
same.There is a main house, an outhouse and it faces south. The main house usually has three rooms, two wings
and a large porch. The porch is covered by a layer of easily removable bamboo railings, which is both discreet
for living and convenient to expand the usable space when necessary, and at the same time prevents cold winds
in winter, shading the harsh sun. Harsh and bright in the summer. The main house is a place to live, a place to
worship ancestors and grandparents, and a place to receive guests. The two wings of the house are often built
closed, without windows, to be used as a place to store things, or as a sleeping place for women and girls. The
outhouse is the kitchen, warehouse, and some houses also have a corner for a pig pen or chicken coop. The main
house and outbuildings are often arranged in an L shape, embracing a large yard.In front of the yard is a pond
created by the process of lifting soil to build a house. Around the pond edge, perennial trees are often planted. In
front of the house there are several tall areca trees with lush green leaves, wrapped in betel vines, with a
rainwater tank underneath. Behind the house is a row of banana trees. The houses in the village are very simple,
but in harmony with the fresh natural environment, with gardens, fish ponds... No wonder, in the past as well as
today, many mandarins after retirement often return to the village to enjoy their fields!
[The architecture of Vietnamese ancient villages gives us a feeling of peace, solitude, and the soul of the
countryside. This is clear evidence of the glorious history of the historical land.]
Arthropologist TS.KTS Khuất Tân Hưng ( published in Tạp chí Kiến trúc số 04-2016) Theory related to
Website:https://www.tapchikientruc.com.vn/chuyen-muc/phong-thuy-trong-chuc-moi-truong-cu-tru-truyen-thong- the selection of
vung-dong-bang-bac-bo.html construction
locations and feng
Following the formation and distribution of ancient Vietnamese residences during the Phung Nguyen - Dong Son shui elements in
period, we see spatial expansion and concentration in the major river deltas of Northern Vietnam. . Most of those Vietnamese
residences are both convenient for business travel and safe for life. They are often distributed near water sources – ancient village
on high strips of land along the sides of rivers or around lakes and ponds, as well as high coastal sand dunes, and architecture
are often protected by hills and hills, for example in Lang Ca, Lang Lang. Vac, Co Loa... were important residential
centers during the Dong Son period [10, p. 57, 159, 800]. Trinh Cao Tuong, after surveying a number of ancient
Vietnamese villages in the Northern Delta, discovered the earthly position that folk call "sticking out the tongue, no
one is itself, cupping the hoof, no one else". are all mudflats of ancient rivers and streams [12, p. 74]. From a safety
perspective, choosing such a residence location ensures long-term stability by avoiding the risk of landslides.Ta
Duc said that some Vietnamese villages (Northern Delta region) built on a hill or a promontory along the river are
believed to have the shape of a turtle with communal houses and temples on the turtle's back. This is clearly a feng
shui concept [2, p. 232-233]. Similarly, the villages of Ngoc Truc, Dai Mo, Tu Liem, Hanoi were previously
considered to be located on the buffalo ridge. The development village runs along the Northwest - Southeast
direction, and is divided into two halves, one half looks towards the Southwest - the main approach direction of the
village today, the other half looks towards the Northeast - towards the Nhue River (with Could this be the main
approach to the village in the past, when water transportation played a key role?). The villagers of Da Nguu, Tan
Tien, Chau Giang, Hung Yen believe that the land position of their village is the shape of a lying buffalo, in which
Da Nguu village is located in the belly of the buffalo, so it is suitable for traditional Chinese medicine [8, p. 62].
According to the book Convenient Geography, Dong Ngac village (Tu Liem, Hanoi) has an ideal feng shui
location: Far away to the east is Nung An Ngu mountain, to the west is Tan Vien mountain (Ba Vi); Seven lakes
north of the dyke form the "internal hall", while the Red River flows next to it, forming the "outer hall" of the
village; To the south, the mountains of Cao Dinh, Co Nhue and Thuy Phuong villages form the "postoccipital" of
the village [11, p. 104]. In Mong Phu village (Duong Lam), although the residential space has a slight difference in
height, the house direction still complies with the principle of "knees on paint, feet on water", which means leaning
back on high places and towards low places [11, p. 102]. That is the reason why the houses in the village have very
diverse views.
[Architectural designs need to be carefully calculated to intertwine spiritual and feng shui elements to make
the architectural work most harmonious]