The Hanoi Department of Culture and Information in collaboration with Architecture Magazine, the Vietnam Association of Architects, and the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District held a seminar on "Transforming industrial heritage into Hanoi creative space" on December 16.

At the seminar, delegates brought forward the idea of converting old industrial zones of Hanoi into creative spaces. 

Principle difficulties 

The seminar took place in the context that Hanoi lacks public spaces, while 92 industrial factories in the capital city are subject to relocation due to being polluting sources and incompatibility with modern urban planning. 

According to Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Thuy Loan, the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Architecture, these factories are ideal for being renovated and transformed into creative spaces.

Gia Lam train factory - the space planned to be transformed into a creative hub/Photo: Minh An

Given the small land fund of Hanoi, old factories becoming creative spaces would be easily accessible for people, contributing to improving their art enjoyment. However, in the premises of the 21 relocated factories, apartment buildings, roads and a private university have already been built. 

Under this context, many creative models in Hanoi have emerged, such as “O kia Hanoi” (Oh, Hanoi!). “To open creative hubs in Hanoi, we have to face many challenges. For example, in the current creative space in Vietnam University of Fine Arts, which is a parking lot, running any other business here is illegal.With the help of the university, it has turned into a space for the work of the youth union, based on that legal foundation, I could establish a creative business in the premise,” movie director Nguyen Hoang Diep, the creator of “O kia Hanoi” said. 

“Creative spaces need a flexible management for it to be easily reached by different people. If you do in the right order by asking authorization in every step, it will be very time consuming,” she continued. 

Difficulty turns into motivation 

Talking about this issue, Deputy Director of Hanoi Institute of Construction Planning Nguyen Duc Hung shared his view that creative spaces need a proper and legal planning.

According to the 2011 master plan approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Hanoi will have a core area, with 30% of which urbanized while the rest set for green and ecological space. 

The core area will also include industrial heritage zones (with historical and cultural values) in the four historical inner districts.

“In the overall planning, in addition to industrial transformation, there is also a focus on renovating the old apartment buildings towards creating more green space and playgrounds for citizens. Therefore, we need to transform the industrial heritage zones following the planning. It is impossible to transform an industrial heritage zones into a public space if it is not contemplated in the plan," Mr. Hung analyzed. 

From the opinions raised at the seminar, architects and experts in the construction field and contestants participating in the contest "Designing Hanoi Creative Space" have discussed about the difficulties in the transformation of industrial heritage zones into creative space. However, it is expected that these difficulties will become a catalyst for creativity in each person following the city's planning. Hanoitimes

Anh Kiet

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