ISSN 1859-1531 - TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ - ĐẠI HỌC ĐÀ NẴNG, VOL. 20, NO. 11.

2, 2022 115

THE INFLUENCE OF FRENCH CULTURE ON COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE:

THE CASE OF THE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT OF TOURANE (DA NANG)
SỰ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VĂN HÓA PHÁP ĐẾN KIẾN TRÚC THUỘC ĐỊA:
TRƯỜNG HỢP CỦA KHU PHỐ THƯƠNG MẠI Ở TOURANE (ĐÀ NẴNG)

DINH Nam Duc*, LUU Thien Huong

The University of Danang - University of Technology and Education
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
(Received: September 02, 2022; Accepted: November 01, 2022)

Abstract - The development of cities is sometimes at the expense Tóm tắt - Sự phát triển của các thành phố (Tp.) đôi khi phải trả
of their historical value. This loss includes architectures that once giá bằng các giá trị lịch sử của chúng. Sự mất mát này bao gồm
held the cultural value of a city. This study aims to determine the cả những công trình kiến trúc đã từng giữ giá trị văn hóa của một
influence of French culture and architecture on the downtown Tp.. Nghiên cứu này nhằm xác định ảnh hưởng của văn hóa và
area of Tourane, specifically the commercial district, during its kiến trúc Pháp đối với khu vực trung tâm Tp. Tourane, cụ thể là
concessional period (1888-1950). To test the hypothesis that khu phố thương mại, trong thời kỳ nhượng địa của nó (1888-
French culture is the core and original value of the architecture of 1950). Để kiểm tra giả thuyết, văn hóa Pháp là giá trị cốt lõi và
the commercial district in the center of Tourane, this study used nguyên bản của kiến trúc khu phố thương mại ở trung tâm
the main methods of typology analysis and graphical Tourane, nghiên cứu sẽ sử dụng các phương pháp chính là phân
reconstruction of urban architectural space. The results of the tích kiểu hình và tái tạo đồ họa không gian kiến trúc đô thị. Kết
study present the relationships between the architecture of the quả nghiên cứu trình bày mối quan hệ giữa kiến trúc khu chợ
central market area of Tourane and French architecture and trung tâm Tourane với kiến trúc và văn hóa Pháp. Những kết quả
culture. These results reaffirm the core values of French cultural này đã khẳng định lại những giá trị cốt lõi của di sản văn hóa, kiến
and architectural heritage that once existed and are an important trúc Pháp đã từng tồn tại và là một bộ phận quan trọng trong quá
section of the formation and development of Da Nang City. trình hình thành và phát triển của Tp. Đà Nẵng.

Key words - architectural heritage; cultural heritage; graphical Từ khóa - di sản kiến trúc; di sản văn hóa; tái tạo đồ họa; phân
reconstruction; typology analysis tích kiểu hình

1. Introduction typological analysis and graphical reconstruction of

1.1. The relationship between culture and architecture urban architectural space.
Architecture is an art as well as a science of spatial 2. French culture in the colonies
arrangement. It also contains elements of religion,
spirituality, culture, and social life. At different social 2.1. Features of the French colonial empire
stages, the expression of cultural life will also be different, This research reviewed the principles of French
which is displayed through different architectural forms. planning in its colonies in the 19th and 20th centuries. In
The French colonists, in the process of approaching and addition to natural and local features, the evolution of a
ruling Indochina, had a profound impact on the life of colonial urban form depended heavily on the policies of the
indigenous society. Accordingly, new religions and beliefs colonists. In this process, the colonial policy of the empires
were introduced, and the daily life activities of the natives was not immutable. For example, the style of the British in
were changed according to the orientation and imposition India changed significantly from the period of the East
of the rulers. In terms of architecture, the transformation of India Company to the period of the Viceroy of India. The
architectural styles that the French have applied in effect of Spanish colonialism on urban development in the
Indochina clearly shows the cultural interference between 16th century was different from that of the 19 th century [1].
French culture and indigenous culture, the culmination of French urban policies in Indochina also evolved from the
which is the introduction and development of the Indochina mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. During this
architectural style from the early 1930s. colonization, colonists played a superior role in all aspects
of colonial life. Regarding the colonial port cities of
1.2. Objectives, hypothesis, and methods of the study
Southeast Asia, Horvath said that they served as a
The case of the French concession Tourane, with the microcosm of colonial society and as a political, military,
research limit in terms of geography being its central area, economic, religious, social, and intellectual warehouse
is used in this study to clarify the influence of French between colonizers and the colonized [2].
culture and architecture on the construction of
architectural works in the downtown area, specifically the 2.2. The introduction of French culture into the colonies
commercial district, during its concessional period (1888- The French colonial empire was made up of overseas
1950). Accordingly, it is hypothesized that French culture colonies, protectorates, and territories under French rule
is the core and original value of Tourane architecture. from the 16th century. The policy of assimilation of the
The main research methods of this study include French in the early stages of colonization in Indochina
116 DINH Nam Duc, LUU Thien Huong
tended to be authoritarian, through destruction and Haussmann [6]. Understandably, the kings did not prohibit
reconstruction [3]. In the mid-19th century, as the French Westerners from trading in Vietnam, because it was
took over Algiers, the destruction of the existing city advantageous for the country. However, commercial
seemed to be the main objective, replacing the native activities can only take place at a designated place, the port
quarters with a simple European model with a grid plan. of Tourane. The first concessional border of the French at
Similarly, in Saigon, the French installed several French Tourane (following the 1888 treaty) included five villages,
cultural emblems (café, racecourse, opera theatre, post all located on the left bank of the Han River. In attempting
office, palace, administrative buildings), after the fire of to expand the city of Tourane, the French pressured
the city in 1859. Functional zoning and land use were other Vietnamese King Thanh Thai to sign the treaty of 15
characteristics of French colonies. In addition to native January 1901 ceding fourteen other villages surrounding
quarters, the French colonial cities of the early 20th century the newly established city to the colonial government.
essentially comprised five functional zones in their After officially receiving Tourane as a concession, the
European quarters: administrative zone, residential zone, French began moving the native areas and cemeteries
leisure zone, commercial zone, and industrial zone. within the boundaries of this concession to build the basic
administrative and commercial facilities. During their
3. Planning of French colonial and concession cities in
tenure, the French applied municipal regulation to five
Vietnam
cities in Vietnam, including Tourane. The French
3.1. Transformation of indigenous cities organized and developed three concessional cities (Hanoi,
In the mid-19th century, when capitalism flourished in Haiphong, and Tourane) as they did in the two previous
Europe, Vietnam under the feudal rule of the Nguyen kings colonial cities (Saigon and Cholon). Since October 1888,
was still an agricultural economy that did not have much the inhabitants of the villages of the concession territory in
contact with Westerners. In contemporary Vietnamese Tourane are no longer Vietnamese citizens. In the common
society, most people's lives were tied to the fields, while language, the French call them “the natives”. On the
industry and commerce were underdeveloped and administrative papers, they are “subjects of the
constrained by the laws of the feudal state. The structure of concession”. The old judicial regulations were no longer
a Vietnamese feudal city consists of two main elements: valid. Instead, the laws were enacted by the French [7].
“Thành” (Citadel) and “Thị” (Town). The citadel served as Discussing the stages of development of French concession
a gathering place for administrative and military authorities Tourane, Dinh distinguishes different phases in the urban
and as a symbol of the city. On the other hand, the town development of Tourane [8]:
was where people lived, produced, and traded, mainly + 1888-1918: The period of city formation. The French
concentrated around the citadel or following the rivers. quickly built their base here by copying the architectural
3.2. The spread of Western models blocks in the pre-colonial style (military facilities),
Until the French established the protection of neoclassical style (most of the administrator buildings);
Indochina, the local cities were only a form of gathering of + 1919-1939: The period of expansion and beautifying
a few villages around a citadel, where the civic and military of the city, corresponding to the filling of vacant land in the
administration was located. New economic activities and center, and the expansion of the road system and the limits
the development of modes of transport have created many of the central area. During this period, in addition to the
favorable conditions for the development of urban areas architectural styles introduced in the previous period, there
and the urban way of life. In this process, the formation of were also more works built in the Art Déco architectural
Indochinese cities was strongly influenced by the diffusion style and the Indochinese architectural style, the most
of images in the homeland of the French colonizers, as typical example for the combination of Western
specified by Brocheux and Hémery: “The urban nuclei architecture and Eastern architecture;
created by the French reminded them of the towns they had + 1940-1950: The period of extension of indigenous
left” [4]. Villages that were once surrounded by mud and areas. In the context of the population growth after World
swamps in Indochina gradually became urban areas. War II (1939-1945), new residential areas were established
Although the Governors-General are interested in planning outside the city center and they did not have much
the cities of Indochina, the plans of Indochinese cities show architectural value.
an extension only after the First World War. After the war, Following the formation and development of Tourane
France promulgated the Cordunet Law in 1919 [5] on the concession, old city maps and city plans are the clearest
urbanization of cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants in illustrations of the intentions that the French had cherished
France as well as in their colonies, protectorates, and for this city: the plan of the current state that military
territories under mandate, including the cities of Indochina. engineers drew this city at its founding in 1889 (Plan de la
Concession Tourane, 1889, ANOM); the illustrative plan
4. Case study of Tourane (Da Nang)
of the first public works at Tourane center (Plan de la baie
4.1. The formation and development of the French de Tourane (par les travaux publics), 1901, National
concession Tourane Library of France); the map of the Tourane planning
Under the first kings of the Nguyen dynasty in scheme in 1931 the plan influenced by the ambitions of
Vietnam, Tourane played a particularly important role, architect Ernest Hébrard, the director of the architecture
more than any other port in the country, as writen by and urban planning department of Indochina between 1923
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and 1931, in city design (Plan du schéma de planification particular, the model of townhouses (including adjoining
de Tourane en 1931, belleindochine.free.fr); or the plan of dwellings and adjoining shop houses) from 2 to 3 floors
arrchitect Louis-Georges Pineau in a more harmonious that uses the front of the ground floor as a business store,
attitude to the native natural environment (Plan accounting for the majority. This district is a crowded place
d'aménagement de la ville de Tourane 1944, IFA). These of commercial transactions, and is a soft boundary between
plans, representing different urban planning perspectives, the living and working areas of the French (in the north of
were designed for Tourane at different times and were the market) and the indigenous neighborhoods (in the west
implemented to varying degrees. and south of the market), influenced by architectural styles
After the establishment of Tourane and its imported, introduced and developed by the French to
administrative organizations, the French gradually enacted harmonize with local conditions.
regulations on urban management. These were the first
laws allowing the French to manage works and trades in
the city, urban services and town planning, as well as the
construction of houses. Regarding land usage, from the end
of the 19th century, Tourane was planned according to the
standards of a French colonial municipality with basic
functional areas (Figure 1): Administrative and military
area, residential area (for Europeans), recreational area,
commercial area, and industrial area [9].

Figure 2. Aerial photograph of Tourane center around

the 1950s (Association des Amis du Vieux Hue, AAVH)
4.2. Typological analysis
Describing the architectural typology, the research of
Altaş has shown that: “Typology in architecture has been
defined as creating an archive of the certain types related
to architecture styles reduced to their elementary
geometrical nature or the search effort of the combination
possibilities of the architectural elements to classify the
types which are the architectural form” [10]. Typo-
morphological studies have been used since the mid-20th
century as a tool for analysis and design, dealing with the
physical and spatial structure of the built environment.
They are derived from studies of typical spaces and
structures in the city and are based on detailed
classifications of buildings and open spaces by type
(“typology”). In this regard, they consider not only the
different scales of the built environment but also the
character of the urban form and its inhabitants.
As a city of over 10,000 inhabitants in the late 1910s
(specifically about 10,000 inhabitants in 1915 and 16,000
inhabitants in 1921), Tourane certainly falls within the
scope of the French urban planning law in 1919, the Law
Figure 1. Location of the commercial district on the functional Cornudet. The documents on the laws related to planning
subdivision map of Tourane in 1950 (Author's drawing) and architectural management for Tourane (height, number
The commercial district at Tourane center, as defined of floors, building density, color, decoration...) could not
by this study, was a bustling area for transportation, be investigated. This study mainly relates the above
exchange, and purchase of goods. This location, before the regulations through the case of other cities, for example in
French established their concessional territory at Tourane, the study of P.T. Phan [11] on the case of Hanoi City. In
served as a place where ships of merchants stopped on their addition, the approach of this study to the old architectures
voyages, thanks to its favorable natural features. of Tourane is carried out in the direction of synthesis and
Geographically limited, the central district of this study evaluation, based on data sources (photos, maps,
includes mainly villas, dwellings, and mixed-use dwellings documents...) about Tourane.
(shop houses) within approximately 150 meters of the The commercial district in Tourane was where the
waterfront or Avenue Quai Courbet (Bach Dang Street bustling trading activities took place, before - during - and
today), and 300 meters from Rue Dong Khanh (Hung after the French domination. The architecture of this area
Vuong Street today) to the south (Figure 1 & Figure 2). In was a typical representation of the introduction,
118 DINH Nam Duc, LUU Thien Huong
development, and harmony of French architectural which is an alternation between townhouses and villas.
philosophy with indigenous architectural features. To • Height and division of facade: The rows of
perform the typology analysis, foremost, a collection of townhouses are built with no more than 3 floors (mostly 2-
data on the buildings in this commercial district, built story houses). These houses have a floor height of 3.5 to 4
during the French colonial period (1888-1950), was carried meters on the first floor and 3 to 3.5 meters on the upper
out. Since then, the development of this neighborhood, floors. The total height of each building does not exceed 15
illustrated in the form of typographic analysis maps, has meters (including the inclined roof). Houses have
clarified the transformation of the surveyed area over the horizontal divisions, marked by cornices. In addition, these
continuous phases of development (Figure 3). buildings also have vertical divisions, formed by the details
of pillars and pilasters.
• Building size: The size of townhouses in Tourane
depends on the number of units to the width of the land.
Usually, each unit is from 3.5 to 5.5 meters wide. Their
length ranges from 15 to 60 meters.

Figure 3. The urban growth in the commercial district of

Tourane (1888-1950) (Author's drawing)

Figure 5. Example of a townhouse consisting of 12 units, with a

total length of 60 meters at Avenue Quai courbet
For townhouses with a length of 20 meters or more, the
building can be divided into two parts by an inner courtyard
to solve the problem of natural light and ventilation.

Figure 4. Example of the horizontal and vertical distribution of

terraced houses at Rue Dong Khanh (left) and Rue Verdun (right)
The market district is located in the middle of the city
center, consisting mainly of mixed residential - commercial
lots and residential lots. As townhouses account for the
majority of constructions in the commercial district, the
characteristics of this type of construction are recognized
as the typical symbol of the area: Figure 6. Example of a townhouse divided into two parts by an
• Location and building density: The characteristics of inner courtyard, at Avenue du Musée
this area are townhouses with a high construction density. (Photos scanned from a research of D.V. Pham, 2007)
The building of Han Market and nearby residential areas • Colors and decorative details: Besides the results of
are built mainly in the period 1888-1918. Construction in the field surveys, we also rely on the analysis of color
the area has the tendency to extend westward (far from the photographs of buildings and neighborhoods to get an idea
riverbank). The area around the market has the highest of the original colors and decorative details applied to the
construction density, most of the buildings are 2-story to 3- architecture. Older photos have a higher reference value.
story townhouses. The market building and the rows of The decorative details of the houses reflect the architectural
townhouses characterize the architecture of the area. They style of the building. For buildings in the neoclassical
are large, repetitive, and continuous buildings. The houses architectural style, the decorative details showing both the
built later (located in the alley in the middle of the big outside and the inside of the building have high aesthetic
plots) are smaller and lower. On the contrary, the housing value. For architectural works in the French architectural
areas further away from the riverbank are sparsely built, style, the decorative details are simplified and applied to
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remind the image of a French house. In the case of of the French concession Tourane [12]. The period chosen
buildings in the Art Deco style, the decoration of the facade to implement these 3D perspectives was that of the 1950s,
is simpler, and it presents a clear geometry, namely the at the end of French colonial rule in Tourane. Due to the
circle and using a decorative concrete slat system. limitation of documentation sources (maps, images, etc.)
for the period before the year 1950, this research mainly
exploited data from the following decades (the 1950s,
1960s, and 1970s). Through the stages of cross-checking
and adjustment, the extracted results will be used to
represent the architectural and urban space of the
commercial district of Tourane, in the 1950s.
The first step in the graphical reconstruction of the
Figure 7. Example of decorative details at the top of the wall on
urban architectural space of Tourane, whose image is
the facade of the courtyard of the townhouses
at Rue Verdun (left) and Avenue Quai Courbet (right) almost completely changed from the colonial period,
begins with the visualization of the architectural structures.
4.3. Graphical reconstruction analysis Our research begins with measuring buildings (for
This is a method of restoring images in 3D perspective, buildings that are still in existence) as well as extracting
which makes it possible to illustrate the analysis of the documents from archival and other research sources (for
architectural and urban spatial analysis, which has been destroyed buildings). We then recreate the buildings with
applied in the research of Dinh (2021) for the specific case their characteristic features and present them as drawings.
Table 1. Typological characteristics of townhouses

In the overall observations of this study on the maximized, it can incorporate a roof over the front porch.
typological characteristics of townhouses, a few constants Communication between the first floor and the upper floors
have been noted, as illustrated in Table 1: is limited by an L-shaped or a U-shaped staircase.
• Townhouses are built with facades connecting • The front space of the first floor is frequently
directly to the sidewalk, and they can have backyards. preferred for the store or living room, while the upstairs
• Most townhouses have a simple facade and repeat front space is used for the worship hall. The rooms are
modules on the facade. Openings (doors, windows) are arranged in the middle or at the end of the house. The
repeated only in rectangular shapes and domed at the top. kitchen and toilets are located at the back of the house.
• The main entrance on the first floor is generally • Openings (doors, windows) are widely used at the
120 DINH Nam Duc, LUU Thien Huong
front and rear of the building to meet ventilation needs in of an urban area with clear functional subdivisions by
the tropical climate. contemporary French planning perspectives. In addition,
We then present the reconstruction of the commercial the introduction and development of architectural styles by
district of Tourane. The architectural and urban space of the French is demonstrated by the verification of old
this neighborhood was the most vivid image of the city's colonial architectures (existing or once existed in Da Nang
urban life. The most characteristic physical elements are City), is also a testament to the influence of French culture
recreated: buildings, streets, rows of trees, etc. This method on the architecture of central Tourane. In the case of Da
makes it possible to visualize the urban scenes of this Nang City, the rapid disappearance of these architectural
center from various angles, including those that do not have works has made French culture just a memory, not much
been archived through the photographic material. influence on the development of Da Nang in the future.
The results of the method of graphical reconstruction of
architectural and urban space allowed the visualization of
old buildings and old streets that no longer exist today.
From detailed views (of buildings) to overall views (of the
whole area), the urban space of the Tourane commercial
district at the end of each colonial phase (1918, 1939, 1950)
has been reconstructed by images. These graphical
representations explore the memory of a French
concessional city that was only accessible through
photographs and archival documents.

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