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Dalat was created during the French colonial period to be a mountain resort in the south of Vietnam. In 1907, the first hotel was built and the urban development was supervised by Ernest Hébrard. The city became rapidly the touristic spot, especially for the Saigonese bourgeoisie eager to escape the stifling heat of his city.
After the end of the American War in 1975, owners of the villas fled and currently, more than 200 villas are under management of the DaLat People’s Committee, but preservation is facing multiples problems especially on legal ownership issues.
This series is a documentary about abandoned villas on Nguyen Du Street, next to the railway station. Multiple villas can be found from traditional mountain western villa to modernist style with large windows and terraces. Most of them have chimney built, which is quite unusual in a tropical country.
With an objective perspective, the series gives an architectural point of view of Vietnam’s history, from the jewels of the French colonial empire to the ruins caused by the American War. The question of preservation arises the economic issues of the current Vietnamese government facing with the spreading urbanism but also its willingness to protect or not its heritage.
