Digitalizing the architectures worth preserving

By sggp.org.vn - 12/10/2020

In addition to the special architectural items protected under the Heritage Law, People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City decided to classify more than 150 villas which have high architectural and historical value for management and conservation under the Housing Law.

After many years of research and evaluation, these villas was chosen by the Department of Planning and Architecture of Hochiminh City, the Institute for Research and Development of Hochiminh City and relevant agencies. Not only that, digitalizing the architectures to establish more effective bases for further preservation was also being implemented.

The City Theater – the First work

Last week, Mr. Hua Ngoc Thuan – former Vice Chairman of Hochiminh City People’s Committee and the Director of Hochiminh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra And Opera (Municipal Theatre) Huu Luan joined the meeting in which Portcoast presented the digitize work of the Municipal Theatre. According to Mr. Hua Ngoc Thuan, these “useful” digitalized documents will help to manage and preserve the Municipal Theater – one of the typical architectures of Saigon – Hochiminh City.

The Municipal Theater was built in 1898 and completed in 1900. The work was used for many different purposes, but since 1975 it has returned its original function as the venue for performing arts. In 1998, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Saigon - Hochiminh City, the People's Committee of Hochiminh City renovated the Opera House with the motto to preserve the original architectural style with some decorative, embossed sculptures on the front of the theater, such as statues of the goddesses, patterns, to name but a few. In 2007, Hochiminh City restored and renovated some parts of the Theater such as roofs, chairs, floor tiles, etc. Since then, the Theater has been one of the symbols of the architecture and culture of Hochiminh City and the place where many cultural and artistic events take place and attracts many audiences in city.

Concerning those who digitalized the City Theater, this idea was conceived in the context of the unfortunate incident: the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris (France). And it is also imperative that the earlier concern of Mr. Huu Luan is tended: Hochiminh City Theater is 120 years old, although it has been restored, many parts are still deteriorating. Another question aroused is whether the Opera House can withstand the harshness of time and the evolution of the world as the Metro railways are being operated just right beneath the surface.

With this aspiration, the responsible people and those dedicated to valuable architectures were in consummate accord with Portcoast – the first construction consultant in Vietnam to embrace the technology and acquire the ownership in digitalizing projects related to technical, has researched and conducted the digitalization of the Municipal Theater.

As regards the digitalizing of the Saigon Opera House, Portcoast has applied H-BIM technology (the detailed process to manage information, materials, geometrical structures, and history of heritage). This process reconstructs the legacy in case of breakdown or disappearance, and manages the estate during operations or maintenance. The step to implement H-BIM is collecting all theater-related materials from the general overview to the interior details such as basement, the stage the auditorium, dome, architectural details, reliefs, seats to the building structures. Then, data are processed by specialized software such as Autodesk Revit, Context Capture of Bentley, etc. And the products of this process are not only the 2D, 3D drawings of the project, but they act as a foundation to help the managers fully grasp the necessary information about the project

Spread application, why not?

Four years ago, two villas of 100 years of age on No Trang Long Street (Binh Thanh District) and Ly Tu Trong (District 1) were dismantled by the owner, leaving many regrets for the citizens. Due to the lack of foundation for refurbishment, the authorities had to approve to dismantle the villa in district 1. Right after, the People's Committee of Hochiminh City also directed the implementation on relevant departments to complete the regulations on management of valuable architectural building as soon as possible to preclude further unexpected incidents.

Four years ago, two villas of 100 years of age on No Trang Long Street (Binh Thanh District) and Ly Tu Trong (District 1) were dismantled by the owner, leaving many regrets for the citizens. Due to the lack of foundation for refurbishment, the authorities had to approve to dismantle the villa in district 1. Right after, the People's Committee of Hochiminh City also directed the implementation on relevant departments to complete the regulations on management of valuable architectural building as soon as possible to preclude further unexpected incidents.

Hochiminh City decided to classify villas for preservation institute. Accordingly, more than 150 villas are selected (phase 1 and phase 2) for management and preservation, encompassing 52 villas of group 1, 75 villas in group 2, and 24 villas in group 3. Regarding old villas belonging to group 1, the outer architectural facades, internal structure, construction density, number of floors and height must be kept intact. For old villas of group 2, the exterior must be remained the same. Concerning old villas in group 3, it is of significance to be complied with the legal laws on planning, architecture, and construction aspects.

Individuals and organizations that are the owners of old villas belonging to group 1 or group 2 have the responsibility not to change the original status of the old villa. Thence, the old villa must not be demolished if it has not been seriously damaged or is in danger of collapse as per the inspection conclusion of the Department of Construction. In case of demolition to rebuild, it must be complied with the original architecture, using the same materials, construction density, number of floors and height of the old villa. It is not viable to create much more texture to expand the area or occupy the space outside the old villa.

As the experts said, in addition to the current State administrative management tools for these valuable architectural works, the application of technology into management will help the related departments have many different options to implement better. Additionally, the owners of those architectural works also have a basis to repair and renovate in accordance with the original state that the Government has regulated.

Translated by Portcoast