The Department of Construction of Da Nang City awarded the
First Prize to studioMilou Singapore Company for the architectural design of
the Da Nang Museum, which was renovated from an office building. Ashui.com
introduces to readers the content of this design plan
Old and New Architectural Strategies – The Appropriate Reuse
of the People's Council Building
The People's Council Building was built by the French
government as one of the administrative buildings of Da Nang city. The building
is used by the Vietnamese government as the People's Council Building. It is a
very good example of the grand and generous architecture of the early 20th
century and it has been well preserved by the Vietnamese government.
The Da Nang City Museum project will be a very successful
example of a contemporary city-level museum, as well as a good example of the
rational reuse of an existing building. Our design seeks to add a distinct part
to the existing historic building, but will still respect the strictest
conservation conditions because the design is non-invasive, removable, and very
coherent.
The existing historic building will be carefully restored,
with a new wing created, surrounding a peaceful courtyard with new landscaping.
This new wing forms a circulation loop within the museum, a simple route for
visitors, starting from the reception and ending at the souvenir shop and cafe.
The new wing is designed with a porch with a modern architectural language and
is open to all sides of the city, allowing visitors to flow from the New Square
in front of the Assembly Hall to the library along the river. This means that
the new Museum will further strengthen the city's pedestrian network and create
an attractive destination on this side of the Square.
Architecturally, the design of this new wing clearly
reflects the modern approach of architecture and does not try to imitate the
existing historical structure of the building. It is designed as a transparent
courtyard with columns and thin louvers that create a filter and help the
interior space of the museum to have a soft light. It will be an attractive
destination for the new pedestrian street area of Da Nang city center.
The material and colour palette of the project is simple and
coherent. Behind the historic building façade, the building envelope will be
restored to its original form. The new wing will bring a warm grey-wood colour
scheme to the overall landscape, recalling the colours of rattan and the
delicate designs of woodwork and weaving. The materials used for the new wing
are; natural concrete with painted half-wooden formwork for the columns and
structures, coloured fibreglass for the louvers, metal, glass, stone and local
timber for the façade and interior. The project views reflect the colour and
material strategy of the design quite well.
The old and new museums of Da Nang city have developed a
successful museum model, blending exhibition exhibits, multimedia technology
systems, internet-based technology and programs with the aim of easily reaching
the children's community and school community.
The new museum on Bach Dang Street is an opportunity to
optimize this model and connect the museum with the large pedestrian area along
the Han River. In this new project, the museum will be the place to develop
multimedia facilities, good interaction, based on 4.0 technology platform to
create a complete experience, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in
historical moments through 3D images, artifacts, and projected videos.
There will be two distinct parts to the project; the
existing building, and the new wing behind the building. The existing building
will include traditional exhibition spaces in a low-light environment (100
lux), mixing natural and artificial light to display the objects in the best
conservation conditions with the lowest level of audiovisual intervention
(small interactive screens, personal devices, etc.). The new wing will allow
for a completely new exhibition environment with all artificial lighting, fewer
objects and an environment filled with new audiovisual technology.
The tour route of visitors will go through the new wing
first, which will simulate 6 periods of Da Nang city, each chapter is about 5
minutes long, visitors will be completely immersed in the projections and move
freely to be able to interact with the main highlights of the exhibition. After
30 minutes in the new wing, visitors will be led to the museum space of the
historical building to explore at their own choice and pace.
Therefore, the old and new characteristics of the project
are reflected not only through the architecture but also through the exhibition
content with traditional exhibition spaces in the existing building, and more
technological exhibition spaces in the new wing.
The new Museum project will not only be a destination for
museum lovers, but also a community space for the entire city. The public
spaces, including the cafe, the museum lobby,
