Most of ancient mansions and buildings, especially old villas built during the French colonial period, are long overdue for use according to French construction experts, said architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem, deputy head of Hanoi’s Planning and Urban Development Association, former chief architect in Hanoi.
After the collapse of an old building at 107 Tran Hung Dao Street in Hanoi killing two people and injuring 6 others, architect Dao Ngoc Nghiem said that there have been several measures of innovation and preservation of ancient buildings but they have not been carried out yet and there has no policies to call for social contribution in protecting these buildings; accordingly, the collapse of the old villa is an unavoidable consequence.
The owners and users of these buildings must stay alert and inform authorized agencies if they see any risks. Building owners and managers were also in charge of maintenance and inspection. Governments of some European countries will finance the owners and users of these buildings for innovation and preservation.
Otherwise, the government will purchase the ancient buildings so that they can reserve the building better.
However, according to Italian experts that though Italy has many architectural ancient mansions yet they have just preserved some 40 really valuable mansions while Vietnam has 12,000 old houses and 900 ancient building. Findings from statistics, Hanoi has 1,586 ancient French villas, comprising 562 private-owned ones and 1,024 state-owned ones.
In related news, 3 of 6 victims of the ancient mansion collapse in Hanoi were discharged from hospitals. The cause of the collapse is because the ancient building is so deteriorated. Local government has evacuated about 50 other households near the villa to safer places.
Related article:
Collapse of old building in Ha Noi kills two people
