Researching on the architecture of these five churches not only shows the genius of the Vietnamese over hundred years ago in architectural art, but also reproduces the living conditions of the city aptly named the Pearl of the Far East, which is full of dreaming and nostalgic beauty. Besides, these five old churches in Ho Chi Minh City are also considered as plentiful cultural resources and have high values for the development of city tourism.
AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SAI GON - SPONSORED BY HUYEN SY FAMILY - IN THE TRENDING OF FRENCH COLONIAL URBAN CIVILIZATION Dinh Thien Phuong1 Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industy Information: Received: 01/12/2017 Accepted: 03/01/2019 Published: 11/2019 Keywords: Church architecture, cutural perspective, French colonial ABSTRACT Nowadays, Ho Chi Minh City is the second largest area of Catholic population in Viet Nam, with 202 parish churches and more than 1,500 diocese chapels Especially, there are five ancient churches which were sponsored by the Huyen Si family under the French colonial period, when this land was still named Saigon Researching on the architecture of these five churches not only shows the genius of the Vietnamese over hundred years ago in architectural art, but also reproduces the living conditions of the city aptly named "the Pearl of the Far East", which is full of dreaming and nostalgic beauty Besides, these five old churches in Ho Chi Minh City are also considered as plentiful cultural resources and have high values for the development of city tourism LE PHAT DAT - HUYEN SI, A GREAT LAND TYCOOM IN SAIGON He studied more with two scientists, Truong Vinh Ky and Truong Minh Ky Because Truong Vinh Ky’s penname was “Si Tai”, Nhat Si was afraid of resembling his teacher’s name, so he changed his name to Phat Dat After the French gave him “District rule” title, in Vietnamese “ong Huyen”, from then he was called Huyen Si Vietnamese Southern folk has a proverb: "The First is Si, Second is Phuong, Third Xuong, Fourth Hoa" (in some places, Dinh is in place of Hoa) This proverb indicates four richest men of Saigon in the early twentieth century and their reputation still handed down to nowadays When Saigon had many deserted houses and gardens in Ben Nghe and Thu Duc because people fled from war, French government intended to assimilate the population by expanding urban planning They offered a lowprice auction to civil servants, but no one bought it So, they forced the officials working for them to deduct salaries, more or less to buy Regarding this, Tran Nhat Vy (2015) wrote: "To accomplish this intention, right from 1861, French wanted to relieve Saigon by confiscating ownerless lands" Huyen Si was a Mr Le Phat Dat was originally named Le Nhat Si, born into a poor family in Long An, working as a boatman carrying people to Cau Kho market to sell agricultural products and honey A vicer near his house taught him Quoc Ngu (Vietnamese in Roman Alphabet), he studied hard and quickly This Vicar , after that, sponsored him to study in Malaysia Mr Nhat Si was fluent in Chinese, French, Latin, and Malay, then returned to work as an interpreter AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 civil servant at that time, so he had to buy some ownerless lands After Huyen Si had his land rented for cultivation, the wild field became fertile and lush, so he decided to invest more “Soon, profits from agricultural products and land trading turned his family to land tycoons.” (Vuong Hong Sen, 2013) SAIGON PARISHES WERE SPONSORED TO BUILD CHURCHES BY HUYEN SI Cho Dui parish: The church was directly contributed by Le Phat Dat in buying land and building The church was started in 1902, designed by priest Bouttier, and completed in 1905, but not until 1907 was its bell tower built (Tran Huu Quang, 2015) Huyen Si church is also considered one of the oldest churches in Saigon (Vuong Hong Sen, 2013) Therefore, this church is also called Huyen Si church In 1920, remains of Huyen Si and his wife were relocated to this church (Le Trung Hoa & Thach Phuong, 2008) He was rich but generous He and his sons Vinh, Phat, set up many markets and helped many people in Tan An, Dong Thap and Cu Lao Gieng, especially in the storm in the year of the Dragon (1904) Another charitable work of Huyen Si family has been remembered until now was “to build five grand Catholic churches for the five parishes in Saigon” (Nguyen Nghi, Khong Thanh Ngoc & Hoang Minh Thuc, 2007) Chi Hoa parish: was started in 1890 by Mr and Mrs Huyen Si’s land donation and major funding The five cathedrals contributed to the architectural treasure of the French colonial period, reflecting a period of brilliant development - "Saigon – The Pearl of the Far East" Tan Dinh parish: Tan Dinh church is a fairly early construction, just after Cho Quan church, started in 1870 Although not a full sponsor, District Huyen Si has contributed greatly to the re-construction in 1895 Particularly, in the construction of the bell tower and the border of the walls, the sons of Huyen Si contributed a lot Architect Nguyen Huu Thai praised the ancient Catholic churches in Saigon: “Before the arrival of the French, Vietnamese Catholic communities existed with their own lifestyle and cultural characteristics Especially in terms of belief Western style churches, monasteries, educational and social institutions have appeared differently because they have been combined with graceful indigenous styles.” Architect Nguyen Van Tat, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Association of Architects, called it " architectural fund in the line of contemporary urban architecture" (Pham Truong Giang, 2016) Currently, "Urban Classical" style of church architecture in Ho Chi Minh City is succeeded and revived by some famous architects The initial success caused a wave of "classical regression” with many churches in the city such as My Hoa, Dong Quang, Binh Trieu, Loc Hung, Tan Thanh, Ben Hai, Phu Binh, Bac Dung, Thu Duc parish: the church was built in 1879, possibly designed by Bouttier, the designer of Cho Dui church Mr and Mrs Huyen Si also offered money for remodeling and reconstructing this church to the present shape Hanh Thong Tay parish: the name of Hanh Thong village phonetically assimilated from Hanh Thong which means Advantage (in Vietnamese) (Le Trung Hoa & Thach Phuong, 2008) Hanh Thong Tay church was built after Mr Huyen Si had died It is said that once passing the church, seeing the Saint Josepht statue wearing a bag, Mr Le Phat An knew that the bag was hanging to ask for money to repair the church He generously sponsored the whole building cost Hanh Thong Tay Church started in 1921, the original design was drawn by Baader, but faỗade had technical problems AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 and faulty design solution, so Le Phat An chose Lamorte contractor to replace altar to place a temporary statue called guard tower) with no statue Secondly, the wall connected to the high wind bar in the shape of a flower vase ranks on the edge of the ledge, stretching, covering the slope of the church, making the viewer feel like a square roof and the border is heavy and hard “to express the majestic power of France and Spain in Colonies” (Wesseling, 2007) Thus, there are totally two churches completely sponsored by Mr and Mrs Huyen Si, one church his family offers land and money, two other churches his family funded for expansion, building bell towers, painting, making art decoration THE CHURCHES SPONSORED BY HUYEN SI FAMILY FROM ARCHITECTURAL VIEW Chi Hoa Church: built in Roman architecture without a bell tower Its main features are different from Gothic in the following aspects Firstly, the ceiling is lower on two sides, pushing the pressure structure to the midle The arch of the church is round and parallel, not pointed diagonally, dispersing the main force to the two horizontal borders instead of diagonally across Therefore, the church wall is thick, solid and heavy There are no glass doors on either side but a wind bar, only a few stained-glass windows in the wing and the sanctuary area Secondly, there are a square tower on sanctuary area to take the stillness of the light and many wooden doors Thirdly, the faỗade of the church is simple with no round rose windows, few freaks, no borders and the front doors are decorated with symbolic pictures “Such Roman architecture was built in colonial countries such as Congo, Uruguay, Mozambique, ” (Pabois & Toulier, 2007 and Le Brusq, 2003) In terms of design style, all five churches were built in classical style with special and unique characteristics The outstanding feature is that these structures vividly illustrate the An Nam art style, which Henri Gourdon said: “preferring to raze for building a new than to renovate, prefer sophisticated to grand (Gourdon, 2017) Huyen Si Church: Light French Gothic style, also known as Lux Gothique, still retains the three basic features of Gothic antiquity: the slope is nearly 60 degrees high, the height of the isosceles triangle is very large, the arch pointed crossbones, central window is a roseround door and border window extends upward, oval-shaped in head, double-side glass paintings create brightness, the skylight connected to two backstages’edges, high bell tower, octagonal peak with thorns, combining two auxiliary towers, creating a light block horizontally The body of tower solided by stone, but the stone wall is criticized because it burdens facade, reducing the serenity Tan Dinh Church: Gothic architecture combined with Baroque In terms of Gothic, Tan Dinh church was not entirely Gothic but it took off a few Gothic elements, borrowed more Roman and Byzantin architecture in the following two points First, it borrowed from Roman the round arches instead of shape arches; thick walls and fewer glass windows, replaced with vetilator louvers to enhance the "sound tearing" effect to make the bell ring farther and get more air instead of more light It borrowed from Byzantin a special arch tower architecture in which the two auxiliary towers are the top guard tower, the tower body is Thu Duc Church: Gothic combined with Rococo style Thu Duc church was originally Gothic, but it removed some features of Gothic and added some Rococo ones Some typical features are as follow: the tower is not covered with sharp thorn; there are no auxiliary towers but low arches; the rose windows are removed, sub-glass doors are fewer and replaced by heavy bars In addition, it borrowed two features from Rococo: First, there are four guarding towers on either side (a kind of small 10 AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 octagonal instead of square, especially two more horizontal church spaces are connected from the bell tower Besides, it is influenced by architecture of Barouqe in two ways First, in the church center is higher than the two sides with the deviation of two louvers to get the wind to cool the ceiling; this gap is connected down, forming the inner wall - the main wall of the church, and linking the outer wall into two layers of walls with the purpose of sound and heat insulation The columns are decorated by Corinth formula style with the Mediterranean spines-shaped columns, combined with laurel leaves The columns of decorative boards are very complicated Second, the church facade is decorated with many signs, borders, patterns, with little empty space The doors are divided into two parts: the bottom is the door and the upper is the arch of the window; the body of the column is subject to wide overhangs, and the octagonal room is also full of sophisticated but heavy patterns reliefs in Western European style (Pabois & Toulier, 2007 and Le Brusq , 2003) In general, the five churches Cho Dui, Chi Hoa, Thu Duc, Tan Dinh and Hanh Thong Tay are a Classical architectural conservation source of Saigon urban Along with Cho Quan, Nga Sau, Cha Tam and Xom Chieu, these five churches sponsored by Huyen Si contributed to the formation of nine masterpiece churches in Saigon in the French colonial period From these nine churches, hundreds of famous classical style churches throughout Southern Vietnam simulated more or less, leading to the wave of "European Classical style regression" in Southern church architecture of Vietnam, after the domination period of American contemporary style church: Art Decor and Mid Century, two styles considered by Morrison as: “examples for typical of tatally pragmatic thinking in architecture” (Morrison, 1987) Five churches sponsored by Huyen Si family from Cultural Geography perspective Hanh Thong Tay Church: Designed by Baader contractor and then completed by Lamorte The Church is in Byzantine style, similar to Vitale church in Italy The Byzantine architecture is characterized with tall, onion-shaped dome, the top of which makes the protrude light tower, instead of taking light mainly in the bell tower and side windows The first tower had a pointed peak, but because of aviation security, the 9meter point pyramid was unloaded into a flat tower The faỗade was simple and solid with no windows but only a series of glass panels under the dome connected to the main door Theere are straight walls with no decoration, few doors, small windows; light apertures and ventilators are pushed up, making the church murky and separate The unique characteristic of the church is the decoration of columns and Mossaic paintings with stones The church column is decorated with Composite formula: a complex combination of Ionic and Corinth, arched ornate arch with deep painting in Eastern European style instead of embossed From Cultural Geography perspective, five churches sponsored by Huyen Si family were designed with two main characteristics: based on the size and geographical space of each parish, based on population condition and faithfuls’ cultural activities Because of respect to strict principles such as doors ratio, convection rates, high and low rates, these churches have a balanced, harmonious shape and are evaluated by architects as not obsolete over time Geography perspective is getting less and less focused in the architecture of big cities in Southern Vietnam today Urban churches are normally built high with the internal space spread out as much as possible to accommodate people and create superficiality and immensity, ignoring landscape architecture and living space The architects of the five churches have conceptualized their cultural geography perspective in two steps 11 AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 The first step is to consider the parish size and climatic features of the geographical space in which the parish resides and wooden door frames were designed for easy opening and closing by the season temperature Walls are not sophisticatedly decorated or sculptured because cornices and borders can be cracked or broken due to longlasting wind, which are bad and dangerous The facade has fewer louvers so that the wind does not blow too strongly from the back to the sanctuary area Therefore, it is reasonable to choose Roman architecture because of the horizontal bearing plates and solid walls These five churches in particular and nine churches in the Saigon classical group, in general, were not intended to build large to accommodate a large number of parishioners Churches were built just large enough to accommodate their parishioners The maximum capacity is only 2/3 of the total parishioners For instance, Chi Hoa parish at that time had 700 parishioners, but the church was built only enough for nearly 400 seats; Thu Duc had about 1,000 parishioners, and the church was built just for 500 people Therefore, the church has a spacious, cool, isolated campus landscape design The second step was based on residential characteristics and urban living factors to design the church A typical example was Tan Dinh church Instead of light, priority was given to the design of "tearing the sound", how to make the bell echo as far as possible, but inside the church hall there are two layers of thick walls, ensuring the best soundproofing This design was based on the urbanization characteristics of Tan Dinh area which is stronger than other parishes in 1930s of last century According to Vuong Hong Sen (2013), since 1910 the main road in front of the church was expanded and traffic was busy Tan Dinh market was held on the opposite side, flanked by many shops, warehouses, one-horse wagons station Therefore, Tan Dinh church was more focused on dealing with sound than light On the contrary, this problem later created a restriction on light, so the two auxiliary towers had to be opened for more wind shafts to get more light for the frontier hall The churches in the group sponsored by Huyen Si family emphasized their response to the natural environment and social population characteristics Thu Duc Church was originally located at Go Nha Tho, about km from the current position It was a low-lying, flooded area which was a muddy area with difficult access 100 years ago; therefore, Thu Duc administrative board moved the church to its present location on a high mound with a clear climate If we observe the terrain of Thu Duc, it is recognizable that after heavy rains, Kha Van Can Street and Road No 5, of Linh Trung area surrounding Hien Linh church are heavily flooded, but Thu Duc church yard is always dry with quick drainage Chi Hoa parish is also in similar condition This parish is small with parishioners living around, so the church does not build a bell tower The bell is arranged on the pointed end of the church, just enough to announce the ceremony to the parishioners However, the church is located in the swirling area 100 years ago when there were fewer houses than today, the wind was very strong, so the wall was designed to be thick enough to ensure wind resistance and there were not many doors so as not to create spreading winds directly into the parishioners Hanh Thong Tay church was also built in that way In 1915, many Catholics of Hang Sao (Cho Cau, current District 12) fled the war and gathered here When the church was built, it was intended to be Gothic, but the two contractors carefully studied the terrain and decided to build it in the Byzantine style Until now, architects still highly appreciate the stature in the architectural orientation of Baader and Lamorte when predicting three problems The first one was that the number of parishers 12 AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 would increase, so if the church were built in Gothic style, the diagonal bearing structure would be difficult to adjust afterwards, and just over 20 years, the church would be full Meanwhile it was necessary to build a church the two sides of which could be expanded; for instance, the original design of this church was only 14,2 meters in width, but now it is possible to expand to 18,6 meters Second, Hanh Thong Tay church was in the flight path of many French aircrafts taking off from Tan Son Nhat airport, so the church must be steady to avoid aircraft sound waves Third, in front of the church, a coach station was formed, and on the side was a road to transport flowers from Go Vap flower village, so the church’s sound insulation and isolation had to be guaranteed Considering these elements, they built a Byzantine style church which was retreated 50 meters from the road the ceremony, there is still a slight vibration each time the aircraft passes Five churches sponsored by Huyen Si family from the perspective of Urban Tourism exploitation potentials The contribution of landscapes of five churches sponsored by Huyen Si is five jewels in the system of nine ancient churches - a masterpiece of French colonial architecture fund in Saigon With such a system of historic churches, it is possible to exploit the potential of cultural tourism without destroying the spiritual landscape but still utilize to develop Pilgrimage and Cultural tourism, typically with thematic tours of architecture, art, history, anthropology, urbanism, Saigon under French colonial period for researchers, young people, students and all citizen For foreign scholars, these churches are a series of beads in sequence of historical events, vividly recreating the living and cultural activities scenes of Old Saigon people for nearly 100 years of French domination in Vietna and further expanding the system of old churches architecture throughout the Southern A Byzantine style church has thick walls and bearing structure in compartments, each of which bears force in wings, and walls built in columns As a result, walls can be removed and loosened at two side edges This method is good for soundproof and convenient to loosen up Some current vestiges illustrating this idea is the bell tower foot covered with boulders to prevent vibrations, while the church wall is thick but vacant without decoration for easy expansion in future Directions to take advantage of potential from the value of these nine old churches architecture, including the five churches sponsored by Huyen Si family, combine with other factors to form unique tours attracting scholars, intellectuals and foreigners The plan is to coordinate with other factors, or change the subject when exploiting daily life of old Huyen Si family and rich men in French colonial period to form a number of typical tours and activities as follows: In 1946, the Old An Nhon parish were devastated by bombs in war, and Old An Nhon parishioners moved to Hanh Thong Tay, so the number of people coming for ceremony doubled Thus, after 21 years of completion, Hanh Thong Tay church had to expand two borders to 1.5 meters more Currently, during Matrix plan to utilize a combination of other factors to form some tours and tourism activities 13 AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 Ingredients: ancient churches in Saigon - HCMC Auxiliary elements Specific tourism products, tours, tourism activities Kinds of guest ARCHITECTURE (Sight seeing - Fieldwork - Science Conference) Old churches including five churches sponsered by Huyen Si family Churches built in Vietnamese traditional architectecture type: pagoda style, temple style (Thi Nghe church, Thu Thiem church, ) Contrast between East West tendencies in old church architecture in Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City Churches influenced by US pragmatic architecture style: Mid Century, Post Modern 1954 2000 (about 100 churches) Domination of "American pragmaticism" on "French romanticism" through church architecture in Saigon HCMC Stadium structure style of architecture in modern urban churches Notre Dame The contrasts of "urban cascading" style (stadium style) synagogues with "rural landscapes" style in Saigon – HCMC churches Geography space of the French style old architectural churches in Saigon - HCMC in comparison with churches in Paris - France ART ACTIVITIES (Exhibition - Fieldwork - Experience - Workshop) 14 Architects, culturalogy scholars, architects and art students, Indochina and Vietnamese researchers, , Urban Study students, AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 Wedding photos Five churches sponsered by Huyen Si family The set of wedding photos in ancient European style churches: Gothic, Roman, Byzantine create the feeling of being in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Travel photos, journal photos Personal photos, lover couples photos, groups of friends rediscover the atmosphere of Old Saigon Exhibition of Old Saigon space Installation Art in spaces of French building churches, recreating a part of living space of Saigon residents in French colonial period Religious and art souvenirs, press, A photos series of ancient Saigon church on ceramic plates set, stamps collection, books, screens, wall paintings, Photographers, married couples Individuals with a keen interest in old Saigon culture by French colonial period Foreign guests and intellectuals who love nostalgia Foreign Catholic or Christian guests CULTURE - CULTURAL CHARACTER (Compilation camp - Accommodation - Cusine) (Expanding to change to other subjects from main subject is five old churches) Mr Le Phat Dat (Huyen Si) in the Saigon Great Eight Catholic scholars eight major contributors to Saigon's urban civilization (change the coordination subject from the old churches architecture to Huyen Si family) Tran Chanh Chieu accompanied with Nguyen An Khuong, Nguyen Vien Kieu, (Nam Trung hotel traces, Luc Tinh Tan Van newspaper, ) Saigon General Tran Huu Phuong, silk tycoon Xuong, Businessmen – tycoons rich men of Western studied in Saigon, who raised National selfdetermination in the early time of French colonial period Traces of the four great tycoons in Old Saigon 15 Culturalogy scholars, History researcher, Journalists, Anthorology students, AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 house tycoon Hui Bon Hoa Nam Phuong Qeen and Bao Dai King French style architecture church - Eastern style architecture church - French scholars (Yersin, Herbarld, ) The richest olman in Vietnam, the most prestigious woman in the Southern and the King who ended 143 years of Nguyen Dynasty Vietnamese culture in French colonial period (case of Saigon 1884 - 1954) HISTORY (Sightseeing - Accommodation – Cuisine - Composition Camp) Mr Le Phat Dat (Huyen Si) with Tran Chanh Chieu, Nguyen An Ninh, Nguyen Truong To, Doctors: Pétrus Truong Vinh Ky, Truong Minh Ky, Huình Tịnh Paulus Của, Two fighting style to pay independence and autonomy for Annam in the early French colonial period: "self-reliant knowledge" and " self-reliance economy " History scholars, Culturalogy scholars, Museum Study, Sociologists, Chieu Nam Lau menu, Nam Trung hotel, Minh Tan restaurant, Reconstructing an aristocratic meal of rich people and educated Western scholars of Old Saigon Guests who are fond of Vietnamese Southern culinary (Son Nam, 2009) Horse wagons, other ancient places in Saigon Spring sightseeing tours by horse wagons on old Huyen Si family journeys around five churches from Thu Duc to Go Vap 16 Experience guests AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 Old tomb in Saigon Archaeological for Saigon old tombs of famous cultural characters in Nguyen dynasty and French colonial period: Phan Thanh Gian, Le Van Duyet, Le Quang Dinh, Tran Van Hoc, Catholic Saigon Catholic History in the early Twentieth century through old churches architecture Vietnamese Southern Press Cuong De, Nguyen Truong To, Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chau Trinh, Japanese Ambassador Archaeologists, foreign students studying Vietnamese, Indochina Study students Journalists, journalism and language students History of Saigon press in the early Twentieth century Consulate of 100 years Dong Du movement CONCLUSION Vietnamese scholars, educational managers, students of pedagogy, contingency to cope with adverse natural conditions such as swirling winds, sunken land, climate change, or social conditions: near markets, near parks, near airports, wagons stations, Besides, there is a deep social vision and accurate anticipation such as parishers’s evacuation because of hostilities, the formation of construction works or big trade centers, Huyen Si - Le Phat Dat, a Saigon Catholic land tycoon, and his children contributed money to sponsor five grand parishes in Saigon to build grand churches Those five churches, including Cho Dui, Tan Dinh, Thu Duc, Chi Hoa and Hanh Thong Tay, together with four other churches: Cha Tam, Nga Sau, Cho Quan and Xom Chieu, formed a system of Saigon Catholic architecture of European-style, an invaluable architectural foundation and inspiration for architects of Classical architecture style The combination of these five churches with other old churches and cultural -historical elements, can create dozens of tours for sightseeing, meetings, and enjoying art: Saigon press, classical French architecture, Minh Tan movement, ancient Saigon cuisine, Bao Dai Nam Phuong, antique fairs, artwork, Saigon publications of the previous century: porcelain plates, screens, stamps, painting fans, cups, In addition to the blend of classical styles by the general way of thinking typical in Vietnamese culture by which the architects have been influenced, these five churches also show intelligence and creativity in architectural solutions by two points: The first one is a harmonious perspective that promotes aesthetics and visual arts, and the second is Thus, the system of churches sponsored by Huyen Si family is not only an invaluable architectural fund of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City but also a source of valuable cultural 17 AGU International Journal of Sciences – 2019, Vol (1), – 18 materials to exploit under the dimension of forming publications, tours, art subjects, contributing to the enrichment of tourism products, culture and art of Ho Chi Minh City Pabois, E & Toulier, B (2007) Architectture coloniale et patrimoine: Expériences européennes Paris: Somogy D’Art Pham Truong Giang (17/42016) The Ancient Church in Saigon - Last Post: Catholic architecture in the heart of the city Law Access from http://plo.vn/van-hoa/ho-sophong-su/nha-tho-co-sai-gon-bai-1-hanhthong-tay-voi-kien-truc-cuc-hiem615752.html REFERENCES Gourdon, H (2017) Art of An Nam (Translated by Truong Quoc Toan) Ho Chi Minh World Publishing House Le Brusq, A (2003) Vietnam traver l’ architecture coloniale Paris: Éditions de l’amateur Son Nam (2009) Thien Dia Hoi and the Minh Tan Ho Chi Minh: Youth Publishing House Les publications du ministere de affaires culturelles (1985 - 2002) Architecture coloniale en Côte d’lvoire Paris: CEDA Tran Huu Quang (2015) Saigon urban infrastructure at the beginning Ho Chi Minh: General Publishing House Le Trung Hoa & Thach Phuong (2008) Dictionary of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City landmarks Ho Chi Minh: Youth Publishing House Tran Nhat Vy (2015) 150-year history of Quoc Ngu journalism (1865 - 2015) Ho Chi Minh: Youth Publishing House Morrison, H (1987) Early American Architecture New York: Dover Publication Vuong Hong Sen (2013) Introduction to Saigon Ho Chi Minh: General Publishing House Nguyen Nghi, Khong Thanh Ngoc & Hoàng Minh Thức (2007) Christianity in Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh: Saigon Culture Publishing House Wesseling, H (2007) Europa’s Koloniale eeuw Amsterdam: Bert Bakker 18 ... Xom Chieu, these five churches sponsored by Huyen Si contributed to the formation of nine masterpiece churches in Saigon in the French colonial period From these nine churches, hundreds of famous... groups of friends rediscover the atmosphere of Old Saigon Exhibition of Old Saigon space Installation Art in spaces of French building churches, recreating a part of living space of Saigon residents... Secondly, the wall connected to the high wind bar in the shape of a flower vase ranks on the edge of the ledge, stretching, covering the slope of the church, making the viewer feel like a square roof