(CPV) - The project of historic buildings in Duong Lam village, Son Tay town of Hanoi on February 18 has received an award of merit in the 2013 UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for cultural heritage conservation.
As a typical agriculture village of the Red river delta region, which maintains many traditional activities and culture, as well as historic buildings; Duong Lam village is very potential for heritage tourism development, especially since it was recognized as the first rural village national cultural asset in November 2005.
The project has restored five selected buildings in a successful effort to showcase the value of vernacular wooden architecture in Vietnam, which is increasingly threatened by deterioration, neglect and eventual loss. They are Mong Phu village gate, On pagoda, Giang Van Minh church, and the two ancient houses of Mr Nguyen Van Hung and Mr Ha Van Vinh.
To conserve and promote this important village, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has dispatched its volunteers since 2008 in the fields of architecture, heritage conservation and community development.
 |
|
Photo: Hoang Linh |
It also has implemented the project on promoting self-sustainable community development through heritage tourism in cooperation with Showa Women’s University and Vietnamese counterparts since 2011.
According to Mr.Akira Shimizu, Senior representative of JICA Vietnam, on the way to develop the village, Duong Lam is still meeting many challenges. One of them is how to restore the traditional houses, which are being threatened by deterioration and degradation due to the severe climate condition and the passage of time.
Another challenge is how to balance the conservation of traditional values with the improvement of village people’s living conditions in the context of today’s modern life.
The experience in Duong Lam village is expected to spread further and further to other traditional villages and historic towns in the country.
Established in 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for cultural heritage conservation recognize excellent achievement in successfully conserving or restoring heritage buildings and properties in the region by the private sector or by public-private initiatives./.