Chris Harvey of the blog Charvey in Vietnam has an interesting posting and photo about a beautiful historic building in District 3 of Ho Chi Minh City. He laments the neglect and disrepair or potential demolition of these old buildings. He also feels Vietnamese citizens feel reticent to talk about pre-1975 issues such as old buildings.
I have had many discussions with my Vietnamese friends about pre-1975 music (particularly music by Trịnh Công Sơn), as well as with my young architect assistant about pre-1975 architecture (usually modernist). My friends have had no reticence to discuss cultural subjects like this, but they do avoid discussions about politics and the war.
The key to preservation of buildings like this is to find good economic uses for them, and then adapt them for the new uses while restoring the bulk of the historic and beautiful aspects of the buildings. However, emerging economy countries like Viet Nam usually do not have the resources or energy to deal with the past -- they are focused on the future and modernization. Mature countries eventually recognize their historical resources, but too late. Singapore is a prime example of this.
Many old buildings like the one Chris features in District 3 had large yards around them with exposure to the street. But the current impulse is to use the valuable land along these commercially important streets for shops. It will take government regulation to curb this impulse and protect both the buildings and their historical surroundings.
Ideally, the government would inventory the old historical buildings like these and prohibit demolition and require maintenance of them. But this kind of government intervention didn't happen in America until concerned citizens organized to improve awareness of these cultural resources and the need to protect them. I will suggest to my friends that they consider organizing to study and lobby for preservation of these buildings.
