Exploring the heart of Vietnamese Modernism

Independence Palace was designed by Ngo Viet Thu in 1962, and completed in 1966. Photo ©Darren Bradley

There are plenty of reasons to visit Vietnam. The wonderful food… the warm and welcoming people… the spectacular scenery… All of those are absolutely true. When I told people that I really wanted to go for the architecture, I got a lot of strange looks. But Vietnam is really the perfect spot for a fan of mid-century modern architecture. The country saw most of its development from about 1949 to 1975, and then very little after that - until it finally opened again economically to the rest of the world in the mid-1990s. When you think about it, Palm Springs followed a similar economic development trajectory - albeit without the war or communist take-over…

The main gallery at Independence Palace. Photo ©Darren Bradley

So before visiting, I had high hopes of finding some great post-war Modernist architecture there… preserved in amber, if you will, and free from redevelopment or bad renovation decisions. That wasn't really the case. The result was more of a mixed bag, to be honest. The lack of redevelopment did not prevent much of the architecture from being modified over time beyond recognition.

You would never know it, but there's a Modernist apartment building in there somewhere... Photo ©Darren Bradley

And in some places like Da Nang or Saigon, redevelopment is in full swing and buildings are getting demolished and rebuilt at a dizzying rate. But there is one stand-out example of Modernist architecture in the country that is in impeccable condition, preserved like a time-capsule: the Independence Palace in Saigon.

The classic head-on shot. Boring, I know, but c'mon... I had no choice! Photo ©Darren Bradley

The Independence Palace (Dinh độc lập in Vietnamese) was the official residence and offices of the President of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It was essentially the South Vietnamese “White House” up until the day a Viet Cong tank crashed through the gates on 30 April 1975, signaling the end of the regime and the re-unification of the country under North Vietnamese communist rule. Since the capital of North Vietnam was Hanoi, that became the capital of the new, reunified country. The Independence Palace was closed and left as it was found, for the most part. Saigon lost its status as a capital city, and gained instead a new name: Ho Chi Minh City (although most Vietnamese still just call it Saigon).

Viet Cong and NVA soldiers at the entrance to Independence Palace on 30 April 1975. That's the gate-crashing T-54 tank parked out front.

The Independence Palace is a Modernist building that was designed in 1962 by Vietnam’s most famous and celebrated architect, Ngo Viet Thu, and finally completed in 1966. It was designed to replace the old Presidential palace on the same location. The building is sited pretty much in the same spot and orientation as the previous Norodom Palace - only larger. But rather than a French Colonial style (which is to this day the preferred style of most Vietnamese, by the way…), this palace was done in a New Classical Modernist style, blended with a heavy Vietnamese influence.

Front view of the Independence Palace. Photo ©Darren Bradley

The Norodom Palace, taken from the same angle as the photo above. This building was also known as the Governor's Palace, was an entirely French building, as you can tell. It was designed by Achille-Antoine Hermitte and work began in 1863, but was not completed until 1873. In 1955, following independence from France, Ngo Dinh Diem declared himself president and moved into this building, which he renamed Independence Palace.

That previous building, called Norodom Palace (oddly, after the name of the then King of Cambodia), was bombed in 1962 by several South Vietnamese Air Force pilots who were trying to kill the President of the country, Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem survived the attempt, but the building didn’t fare so well. It was decided to raze the building and design a new one from scratch.

The Norodom Palace following the bombing by two pilots from the Republic of Vietnam's own Air Force in 1962, following an attempt to kill President Diem. The pilots were not communists. Rather, they were upset at Diem for not doing enough to fight the communists. Both pilots fled but following the successful coup the following year, in which Diem and his brother were killed, both pilots returned to the ranks as pilots in the Air Force.

Ngo Viet Thu was Vietnam’s most celebrated architect, so it was no surprise that he got the prestigious commission to design the country's new Presidential Palace.

Ngo Viet Thu, Vietnam's most celebrated architect.

Thu had studied architecture first in Da Lat (a city in the central highlands of Vietnam, known for its French colonial architecture), and then at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he was the first Asian to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome architecture prize in 1955.

Ngo Viet Thu being carried on the shoulders of his colleagues through the streets of Paris following Thu's award of the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome architectural prize. As a winner of this prize, Thu spent years in Rome studying architecture before being invited to return to Vietnam by Diem.

In addition to the Independence Palace, he designed many of Vietnam’s most iconic Modernist landmarks, including this Catholic Cathedral and the university in his home town of Hué.

Phu Cam Cathedral in Hué, designed by Ngo Viet Thu. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Hué University by Ngo Viet Thu. This building was used as a hospital aid station during the Tet Offensive. Photo ©Darren Bradley

Same building as above, as converted into a hospital during the Tet Offensive in February of 1968.

While then-President Diem had commissioned the building following the bombing by his own air force in 1962, he never lived to see its completion. He and his younger brother were killed the following year in another, successful coup. One of the leaders of that coup, a South Vietnamese general named Nguyen Van Thieu, would eventually become President of South Vietnam, himself, and would be the only person (with his family) to ever reside in the Independence Palace. Thieu would live there from 1967 until about a week before the Fall of Saigon in April of 1975.

Nguyen Van Thieu, former South Vietnamese general and member of the military junta who overthrew Diem in a coup. He was President of the Republic of Vietnam from 1967 until 1975.

The palace that Ngo Viet Thu designed is a beautiful example of Modernist architecture, adapted to local Vietnamese climate, customs, and design vernacular. After the fall of Saigon, the palace was renamed “Reunification Palace”, but the sign out front at the visitors’ center still refers to it as Independence Palace, as do most of the locals.