After 1.5 years of renovation, the Cau Pagoda relic ( Hoi An ) has completed all items and is expected to officially open to welcome visitors on August 3, on the occasion of "Hoi An - Hoi An Cultural Exchange". Japan” 20th edition.
Contrary to expectations of a project with a budget of more than 20 billion VND, Covered Bridge faced fierce controversy because of its strange appearance, outstanding new paint, much different from the old image. On social networks, most tourists believe that the new paint is offensive and takes away the ancient beauty of a more than 400-year-old monument.
Sharing with Lao Dong, architect Tran Huy Anh - Standing Member of the Hanoi Architects Association - frankly said that it is unthinkable that heritage sites in Hoi An can be preserved exactly as before.
With the harsh climate and the high frequency of serving tourists, the renovation of Cau Pagoda is necessary.
According to architect Tran Huy Anh, whether the renovated Covered Bridge is ugly or beautiful, offensive or not, it is the people of Hoi An who are the first to speak up.
"The people of Hoi An are the ones who love heritage the most, understand the heritage, its original state and the ways of their ancestors. They are the ones who evaluate and supervise this process most seriously and accurately. , the most honest. As for the comments on bad, beautiful, old, new, they are completely subjective, emotional, and lack basis" - said the architect.
He said that not only the Covered Bridge but before that, a series of famous relics of Hanoi such as the Opera House, Quan Chuong Gate... all faced mixed opinions when remodeling. However, after a while, when these works gradually faded and returned to their old image, the controversy subsided.
"Evaluating the appearance of a monument after restoration belongs entirely to the category of taste. And tastes cannot be the same, nor are there exact standards" - Architect Tran Huy Anh shared .
He also emphasized that the new appearance of the Covered Bridge is the result of scientific research, the product of cultural preservationists and, importantly, the unification of the will of the government and people of Hoi An. .
Therefore, architect Tran Huy Anh affirmed: "Let the people of Hoi An speak for themselves. Hoi An's heritage is not for tourists from all over the world to come here to make unfounded criticism for a moment."
Located in a low-lying area, often flooded, Covered Bridge has undergone 7 major renovations in 1763, 1817, 1875, 1915, 1962, 1986, 1996. The relic was decided to be restored again. and start construction from December 28, 2022.
The project has the advice of many experts from Japan and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, in December 2023, Hoi An organized consultation with experts and the community again because of many issues related to the bridge deck, structure...
After the new image of the Covered Bridge caused controversy, the Hoi An city government affirmed that it had accepted comments from residents and tourists.
On July 30, the unit implementing the project to renovate the Cau Pagoda relic repainted the bridge wall of the relic to look "less new".
