Preserving historical value in the future appearance of Hoan Kiem Lake
According to architect Tran Huy Anh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Hanoi Association of Architects, what needs to be avoided when planning Hoan Kiem Lake is to look at history as something that must be kept in its original state. Because Hoan Kiem Lake itself has undergone many changes and each period has left a mark in this space.
From traces associated with feudal dynasties, the urbanization process according to the West to modern-era works, Hoan Kiem Lake is containing many layers of memories. The value of this place lies in the continuation between those layers of history.
Hoan Kiem Lake is a heart, a place to settle souls after thousands of years. This is the center of a city that is both eternal and changing, a place where values that need to be preserved and values that need to adapt to development coexist," architect Tran Huy Anh said.
According to him, when setting a 100-year vision, planners must do what predecessors have done: create space for the future but not erase the traces of the past.
The important thing is to identify the core values. History must be seen as a continuous evolution, which cannot be broken. At Hoan Kiem Lake, history is reflected through many periods: feudal, modern, socialist period and even the period towards the future. Therefore, the planning needs to show a multi-colored picture, fully reflecting the imprints of different historical development stages, as well as the identity of Hanoi," he emphasized.
This view also sets limits on spatial expansion. Hanoi currently needs more squares, pedestrian paths, green trees and community living spaces. But a larger space is not necessarily a better space if the ratio between buildings and people is broken.
According to architect Tran Huy Anh: "Change is adaptation; eternal value is culture, history. Water surface landscapes have no time, they reflect thousands of years of history on the water surface and hide under the water layers of age-old historical legends, historical landscapes cultivated by the memories of generations, where each tree and blade of grass standing there is also a connecting thread with many lives... creating a human connection with a spatial and trans-space ratio that needs to be preserved. No matter how modern it is, it must be close to people. If the size exceeds that ratio, it will become increasingly unfamiliar to people and that urban space will no longer have vitality".
Previously, when researching Hoan Kiem Lake, it was only mentioned but not deeply explored, today with global information and many practical lessons, underground space has become a direction worth studying to compensate for ground space. When traffic, parking, technical infrastructure and some service functions are brought underground, the ground may be more reserved for pedestrians, green trees and public activities and even heritage works that need to be preserved.
However, architect Tran Huy Anh believes that this must be a well-studied problem in terms of expertise, because any underground intervention in the Hoan Kiem Lake area needs to take into account water surface, landscape and historical works. Infrastructure modernization must make the above space better, instead of creating more pressure on an area that already has special value.
The new project must pass the "test" of Hoan Kiem Lake
Among the proposals being concerned, the idea of arranging "Khai Hoan Mon" in the North of Hoan Kiem Lake raises a bigger question than the formality: What value must a new project have to be enough to appear at Hoan Kiem Lake?
Architect Tran Huy Anh commented: "Kai Hoan Mon is a type of architecture that has been shaped for centuries in the West and was newly introduced to some Asian cities from the early 20th century. In Vietnam, this is a new type of architecture, especially unprecedented in Hanoi... so it is necessary to further study whether it has meaning and location, and then consider whether it is suitable for the Hoan Kiem Lake space.
According to the architect, Hoan Kiem Lake has a special standard that other urban spaces do not have. That is, any new project must face memories accumulated over thousands of years.
This is a place to settle the soul of Vietnamese rivers and mountains, a place where the best and deepest impressions of Vietnamese people as well as international friends are sent. All architectural works here must have outstanding values," architect Tran Huy Anh emphasized.
Therefore, a new project cannot only be evaluated by whether it creates a beautiful highlight or not. It must be placed in the overall landscape, must have a suitable relationship with existing projects and more importantly, must justify and clarify its own necessity.
This principle also applies to the handling of existing buildings. According to architect Tran Huy Anh, before replacing a building, it is necessary to identify the value it is bringing to the space. An old building may not be perfect in function but still has value in memory, architecture or urban structure.
That is also the reason he believes that Hoan Kiem Lake planning needs a long enough research and debate process. 100-year vision cannot be decided solely from perspective images or a few spatial indicators.
“A project can take 5 years, 10 years, even 20 years to be built, but the process of thinking, researching and debating right from the moment of formation has created a positive social effect: if each citizen brings all his enthusiasm and intelligence to contribute to making his city more beautiful, entrusting his future aspirations to the city... then that city will be very happy, even when the road is still small, the house is still small, life is full of worries. But when the city listens to those aspirations deeply, the future of that city will be very great,” he said.
According to him, the current opinion poll is only one step in the process of completing the plan. Architecture, planning, history, culture and the community need to have the opportunity to participate more deeply, because decisions at Hoan Kiem Lake will not only serve one generation.
“Jane Jacobs – a world-renowned urban researcher said, ‘A city can only serve everyone when it is created by everyone. Because the city itself is the most complex and intense entity of human life’. Therefore, Hoan Kiem Lake spatial expansion planning is creating a great opportunity when it is widely discussed, because thorough research will bring true and sustainable values,” architect Tran Huy Anh said.
Hoan Kiem Lake will certainly change with Hanoi. But with a space that has become a symbol of the Capital, the success of the 100-year plan does not lie in creating a newer and better appearance. More importantly, after those changes, Hanoians of many later generations still recognize Hoan Kiem Lake - where today's architectural layers are creating a new layer of history, allowing different layers to coexist and continue to nurture the soul of the city.
