According to a French researcher in the 1930s double roof houses only existed in the central Binh Dinh and Quang Tri provinces.
New research has also uncovered the houses in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.
New discovery
More than 70 years ago, Pierre Gourou, a French expert in geology and humanities who worked for the Vien Vien Dong Bac Co (French School of the Far East), conducted a survey on houses in Vietnam.
The survey focused on the north and middle areas of the central region, from Thanh Hoa to Binh Dinh provinces, aiming to differentiate between the two architectural styles on opposite sides of the Gianh River.
In his study, the French scientist asserted that double-roof houses were concentrated in Binh Dinh and Quang Tri provinces.
It was not until the year 2000 that painter Nguyen Thuong Hy from the Quang Nam Province’s Center for Heritage and Relic Preservation, who has 30 years experience in measuring and drawing ancient houses, discovered many double-roof houses built before the 1940s in Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh, Tam Ky and Tien Phuoc districts.
The prize of the find—Nguyen Huynh Anh’s house in Tien Phuoc— is over 120 years old and well-preserved by generations of the family.
The residence gained particular notoriety after Anh refused to sell it to Ngo Dinh Diem, the Saigon regime’s president from 1955-1963.
In a recent survey on architecture in Vietnam’s rural areas, experts from the Vietnam Institute of Architecture Research unearthed many double-roof houses aged between 70-100 years on Ly Son Island of Quang Ngai Province.
They also discerned that the roofs of houses here are steeper than those of houses in Quang Nam.
Modern adaptations
According to experts, double-roof houses reflect the local style of architecture.
On the southern bank of the Gianh River, the roofs point south-ward and bear a cross-inheritance between the Vietnamese and Cham people.
Most houses are built in areas with the sultriest weather far from water sources and tile kilns, especially in Quang Nam which abounds with jackfruit wood and has many skillful carpenters.
Since the 1940s, the double-roofs of many houses in Quang Nam have been changed.
The upper thatch-roof and lower earth-roof are replaced by tile roofs.
House-owners change the roofs to avoid fire because these age-old houses of jackfruit wood are prone to burn due to carelessness and lightning.
The clay walls have been replaced by other materials.
With their historical and cultural values, double-roof houses represent a unique artifact of the central region.
This style of architecture, now in danger of vanishing, should be carefully preserved for future generations to enjoy.
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Michael Cherito - + 84.903454427. Email : trafest@trafest.com
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